Dysphoria
by Emme2589
Summary: EVE begins to realize how much she's forgetting. She never would have thought A113 would make a comeback.
1. Chapter 1

Something felt wrong.

Not just in general, but like it was something specific. She just couldn't remember at the moment.

EVE woke up slowly, like she was reluctant, like she hadn't meant to fall asleep. All she could make out were the words across her screen and the blue glow of her LED eyes.

The feeling of cool metal pressed against her own.

She turned to that feeling, knowing, longing.

She pressed her face against the top of the dirty box. It was so familiar.

 _WALL-E..._

 _God, I love you so much, WALL-E..._

EVE checked her internal clock; 2 am. Far too early to get up. Why was she up so early? Well, that didn't matter at the moment. She didn't feel like going back into stasis, so instead she carefully pried herself away from WALL-E. He mumbled something incoherent, but he didn't wake up.

His arms had been out, around her, but his head was tucked inside.

EVE was very quiet as she worked the door mechanism, slipping outside with relative ease. She turned around, flinching when she saw rolling hills full of grass and trees.

Why did that surprise her? For some reason, she was thinking that she would see lands of dirt and garbage towers.

She massaged her head, deciding to think about that later. She flew up a little higher, looking at all the valleys and rivers. The bridge below them was on the verge of collapsing, so renovations were already under way to move their truck to a more secure location. WALL-E of course had been reluctant at first, but Willow insisted that a little change was necessary sometimes, so he obliged.

Still, something felt off.

EVE flew even higher. Almost all the garbage in the surrounding area had been eradicated, replaced by buildings and trees and flowers. She still felt wrong. Nothing around her seemed familiar anymore, it was all strangely foreign.

Things had been like this for almost forty years now. Why did it all seem so new?

EVE stopped her ascent when she caught the sun rising steadily over the horizon. The beams of light cascaded over the land far away, and each dip in the land had echoes of shadows, garbage piles that no longer existed. It was like a scar on the planet, one that would soon heal.

EVE sighed, glancing down at her outstretched fingers. Her metal had once been pure white, but now it was tinted brown, little nicks and scratches covering her body from head to hover. she felt the side of her head, where a tiny scar of a dent was left after her long-ago struggle with AUTO. Her right arm had deep gashes in it from when Shannon Forthright managed to blow it off her body. Then, they had oozed hot oil and molten metal, fried circuit boards, but now it only showed off a faint discoloration. EVE mused that they looked almost like claw marks.

"Evah!"

She flinched, "Ah." looking down, she realized that she had been lost in her own head for hours, and WALL-E was now stumbling out of the truck, wondering where his wife ran off to.

"Wall-E." EVE hurried to him, "Help?"

"Uh..." he shook his head, "I got it, thanks."

She blinked. Oh yeah, he had learned how to talk. How could she forget something like that?

She didn't even see WALL-E leave, but when he came back, his eyes were stern, "Okay, what's wrong?"

EVE found her voice, "What?"

"That whole thing you're doing." he replied, like it was obvious, "Why are you so distant? Why did you speak to me like that? How come you were staring at your hand like fifty feet in the air?"

"A hundred and twelve..." she corrected.

"Just answer the question." WALL-E glowered.

EVE knew she couldn't hide anything from him, so she didn't bother trying. Letting out a hiss of some frustrated noise, she clenched her hand into a fist, trying to find the right words to describe how she was feeling. Instead, she fell flat with a simple, "I don't know..."

"Just tell me, Eve!" WALL-E growled impatiently, "You know I'd never judge you for it!"

"No! I mean I really don't know!" EVE shook her head, "I just feel so odd...it's like I'm stuck in the past! I forgot that you can really talk to me, I forgot that we have a daughter, I forgot that this developing city was right at our doorstep!" EVE glanced away from WALL-E, suddenly not wanting to look him in the eye, "I have no idea what's wrong with me; diagnosis not confirmed."

WALL-E sighed. She hadn't used robot jargon in normal conversation for at least 60 years.

"I'm sorry, okay!?" EVE was frustrated with herself, now, "I just-! I can't-!"

"Slow down, Eve." WALL-E soothed, "It's okay..." he took her hand, making sure their fingers were laced, _"Durr-reck-tive."_

EVE's eyes widened, then they relaxed, "That sounds just like..."

"It's still me..." he continued, "Just like I've always been...just like I always will be..."

EVE closed her eyes into tiny crescent-moon shapes, using her other hand to cover her face.

"Evah?"

"Hm?" she looked up at him. His eyes reflected understanding.

"Do you think you had a bad dream?"

A bad dream, "What do you mean? I don't really dream."

"I know you don't, but I dream, sometimes." WALL-E shifted his fingers so he was holding her thumb, "And then when I wake up, nothing feels quite right anymore."

"That...could be it." EVE conceded. Something she knew about dreams were that they were disorienting. They warped your view on reality so when you come out of them, something feels kind of off for awhile.

"Anyway, you have work in an hour. Want me to walk you?"

"Uh, not today. Thank you." she just needed to be alone right now, "I'll see you? At five?"

"As usual, my queen."

EVE gently shoved him to hide the blush, "You don't have to call me that!"

"Bye, Eve!"

"Hey!" she watched him zoom off into the sunrise, giggling like he didn't have a care in the world.

She laughed too, but the laughing slowly faded until she was frowning. She still felt weird.

Did she dream? And if so, what did she dream about?


	2. Chapter 2

The next day passed without further incident, and though EVE could tell that WALL-E was on to her, she didn't pay much mind to it. She was too caught up in her own mind, her own thoughts and feelings.

If anyone was worried, they didn't say so.

Finally, one Friday night, she couldn't take it anymore. She had to see what was on her hard drive that made her so detached from reality.

"Where are you going?"

"What?" EVE brought her fingers out for the purpose of tapping them together, "Sorry, I just need to check on something."

"Yeah yeah, I've heard that before." WALL-E pulled her back inside the truck, "But I have a tape that needs some very serious watching. It's called Hello Dolly!"

"Hey, hey...I know that's important to you, but I need to see if my memories are acting up."

"What?" WALL-E blinked, "What does that mean?"

"Nothing, it just means..." God, what could she say!? "It means that uh, my head isn't...right?" she mentally cursed.

"Then I'm coming with you."

"Uh, well, actually..." EVE moved to block him.

"What? What is so important that you need to go and I need to stay?"

She hadn't actually thought about that.

"Uh..."

"Just let me go." WALL-E stared at her oddly.

She couldn't think of any real excuse, so she picked him up and carried him out. The sun had set a long time ago, and any lights that had been off previously were now on to account for the darkness. It wasn't hard to see the path this way.

"The Axiom?" WALL-E brought EVE back to reality, "Why are we going there?"

"Uh, wait..." EVE looked at the giant cruise liner, caked in plants and rot, "Sorry, I'm not paying attention..."

WALL-E was about to make another sarcastic comment, but then he realized that something might be seriously wrong with her. She was usually so straight-forward and down-to-earth, it was odd seeing her space out and get stuck in the past. He wanted to say something to break the silence or clear some of his confusion, but he figured that he would be able to once they got there.

"Eve, Wall-E." Jonathan rubbed his eyes upon their arrival, "Not to be rude, but don't you guys have some tape to watch?"

EVE felt one of her eyebrows lift in confusion, "How do you know about that?"

"Uh..." WALL-E shifted away from them.

"Wall-E likes to talk about you." Jonathan couldn't hide his amused smile.

"Whatever." EVE huffed, "That's not why we're here. I think something might be wrong with my...memories."

"What?"

"That's what I said." WALL-E added.

"Hey, hush. To be honest, I have yet to make a proper diagnosis." she explained, maybe a bit callously, "But something is wrong. Can you check?"

Jonathan nodded, a little too forcefully, "Okay, I guess?" he grabbed a glowing wand and swept it up and down her body. She tried hard to hold still.

Jonathan looked over his computer status, "Huh." he shrugged, "There _is_ something here."

"Really? What is it?" EVE tried to peek, but Jonathan moved to counter her.

"Hold on, Evie. I can't actually see what it is."

EVE's eyes widened, "You're kidding."

"Nope, it's just some kind of weird whatchamacallit, uh..." Jonathan looked for the right words, "Thought experiment?"

"Just show me what it says!"

Jonathan shut off his monitor, "It doesn't say anything!"

EVE was ruffled.

"Look, I don't have an answer for you." Jonathan insisted, "Come back tomorrow, when the full scanner is on, then I can find the problem."

EVE used the very logical robotic side of her to search for tell-tale signs of a lie.

"Fine. Let's go home, WALL-E."

WALL-E glanced back at Jonathan worriedly before following her out the door.

As soon as he was sure they were gone, Jonathan flipped his monitor back on.

"I can't believe this..."

He buried his head in his hands, messing up his already disheveled hair.

"Captain?"

Jonathan looked up, "Oh...hello, Alpha."

The steering wheel bore a striking resemblance to AUTO, with a blue insignia across his spokes. His base was attached to a hovering mechanism, not unlike the ones fitted on most Axiom-Class Robots.

Alpha's deep robotic voice perpetrated the room, "Are you in need of any assistance?"

"No thank you. I just...Alpha, how did it come to this?"

"Pardon?"

"I-It's just that...Eve is my friend. How am I supposed to keep this information from her?" Jonathan raked another hand through his hair. He needed a haircut, "If I tell her about this..."

Alpha waited a moment. He didn't want to interrupt the captain if he was to speak again, "If I may offer my advice, Captain..."

"Yeah yeah, permission granted."

"Then I would say do not worry. That Probe is strong. If anything were to kill her, it wouldn't be that."

Jonathan appreciated the sentiment, but it did seldom for his throbbing nerves, "I just don't want it to..."

"It will not." Alpha said again, "You recall when that little one was born?"

Jonathan couldn't help a short laugh, "Okay, I gotta admit, I don't think I could that."

"If Eve can survive that, I doubt anything could kill her."

"Okay, ya little snitch, you've convinced me. Just don't go blabbing about this, okay? If Eve finds out, it could cause even worse problems!"

"You have my word, Captain."

"Oh, and one more thing."

Alpha listened, "Yes, Captain?"

"Find the person responsible for this." Jonathan growled, "If Eve dies because of some stupid miss-calculation, I'm going to be royally upset."

"You have my word."

"Promise?"

"Affirmative."

"Good." Jonathan turned off the computer, "Goodnight, Autopilot..."

Alpha watched on for just a moment before moving on, "Goodnight, Captain."

OOO

EVE wasn't sure what made her do it, but she was feeling nostalgic, and she wanted answers.

She waited until she was sure WALL-E had fallen asleep before looking around. She didn't want to linger in case he wanted to follow her, and he always could be awake and just pretending, but she realized that she didn't care if he followed her or not. By then, she would know what was wrong with her.

Maybe the truth was worth hiding...

But she didn't want to live in ambiguity.

Flying into the air and across the water was just fine, until she saw her reflection in the still water. She didn't stop, but somehow, it didn't look quite right. She let her right hand sink into the water, creating large ripples that cascaded behind her. Some of the dirt washed off her fingers, but only a small amount. She was still largly dirty. She didn't care about being dirty, but again, none of it felt quite right.

There it was.

Just on the other side of the lake loomed the Axiom. A few starliners were present around the surrounding buildings, but the Axiom was easily the largest. It seemed to take up a lot of space, but it was too late to move it farther away. Everything inside was broken, and the steering wheel was gone.

EVE pushed the creeping vines aside. The Axiom had once been a place full of life, humans bustling about in a Utopian paradise where robots catered to their every will. Looking back, it sounded exhausting. EVE would never understand how everyone put up with it. Didn't humans need exercise or something?

Either way, she was once again inside. It hadn't changed since the humans left, except to get rustier and more worn down over time. Nature was a beast given time. It was almost serene, but EVE didn't keep looking around, she had a destination.

A computer that she knew would give her the answers she wanted.

She boot up the system, and it crawled to life. Her fingers worked quickly, though she hadn't had to type in a while, she always knew how. She opened the scanning and diagnostics program.

SCAN READY FOR ACTIVATION

EVE set her head below the scanner and pressed the confirm key. It swept over her with a beaming light, making her squint. Once the system beeped, she sat up and relayed the results.

She almost did a double-take.

Some of the files were recognizable, but most of them relayed a crash report with the words "FILENAME NOT AVAILABLE" plastered over each one.

She had files missing?

That didn't make any sense. Did this mean her memories were being deleted? How could that be? She still remembered, just not right away and not as quickly. It's not like she was forgetting.

While she was swimming in her confusion, she remembered the other thing she wanted to do. She pressed a button on the console and it ejected a memory reader.

If she had been dreaming, this would tell her what happened in it.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't hard to guess what EVE would be up to, which is why WALL-E tried to get an extra charge in before returning home from work. He could always tell when she was agitated, and even though he understood why she wanted to keep it from him, he was curious. Anything that could be harming his family was his business, and if possible, would be stopped.

It had been a long time since WALL-E had followed her outside after dark. This time, he wasn't as nervous; his gears were less squeaky, he knew how to hide.

"Where are you going?"

WALL-E didn't react, "To find your mother."

"Where is she?" he heard her wheel off her shelf.

He sighed, not bothering to keep the door quiet, "No idea, but I'd prefer if you wait here. This could be something sensitive."

"Dad, I'm not a child anymore."

"So you keep telling me." he wheeled down the ramp.

"I'm coming either way, so will you let me?"

WALL-E finally turned to face her. Willow's face was one of annoyance, her eyes drawn together like angry eyebrows. She crossed her arms, "So?"

"Fine," he took her shoulder, "but you have to be quiet."

She gave a curt nod.

Even though it was very late in the evening, several people were still up. Nothing could quite put the city to sleep, it seemed. WALL-E didn't know where EVE was, but he had a very good idea of where she might be.

"We're going to the Axiom?" Willow half-whispered.

"Correct."

"But, why?"

"Because I think Eve is here."

Willow stumbled over the underbrush, "Here? But it's so worn down, and there's inobody/i here!"

WALL-E took her hand to guide her over the harsh plants, "Exactly." he mused, glancing up through the doorway, "It's the perfect place to hide."

EVE stuck the device to her head and watched it all play back, then forward. She waited for the right memory to stick out, the one that made it all start.

She recognized it immediately;

 _It was dark. Not a single light was on in the tiny room, but she could tell that she was being watched. Each movement felt forced and unnatural, like she was moving through a marsh thick with fog and underbrush. More and more tiny prickles of sensation broke through, like bits of electricity were warming her up._

 _Finally, she could see._

 _All around her, the walls were white and the ceiling was white, the floor was light gray. She saw four identical probes next to her in a neat little line, but no one else was present. Things she didn't know about flashed at her on her HUD, while the room itself was mostly empty._

 _A robot with shallow eyes skirted along the floor. She couldn't make out its shape, but it was relatively large. As it typed on the keyboard, EVE was surrounded by a thick pod that completely obscured her vision. She was sick of being trapped, why was she always forced into tight spaces?_

 _One last thing pervaded her consciousness before she blacked out again;_

Directive: Find a plant.

And that was it. The next thing EVE would see is the image of a dusty Earth. This memory was just a day before she would meet WALL-E. She let her arms fall onto the desk, leaning on it in case her hovering driver failed her.

What did this mean?

If this was the dream she had, then why did it suddenly start deleting her memories?

She straightened out. Maybe if she found which memories were being deleted, she could pinpoint the cause. She looked back through each command labeled "FILENAME NOT AVAILABLE" and each one she knew she remembered.

Willow's voice was barely a whisper, _"What's she doing?"_

 _"I can't tell..."_ WALL-E was trying to follow each line of code, but it was all in Greek to him. Willow was more likely to understand than he was, but she was by no means an expert.

The lines flashed across the screen, and EVE searched for a pattern in each deleted memory. A shock of fear hit her when she remembered the last time she had fears about her brain, but she pushed that fear out of her mind. Being afraid would hinder her ability to think critically. One of the buttons on the control panel hit the metal band on EVE's left middle finger as she slid her hand across it, making a loud noise.

EVE flinched, pinching the band with her other hand.

WALL-E watched intently. He knew how much her wedding ring meant to her.

EVE brought it to her screen, like she was giving it a short kiss, before returning to her work.

 _"What's she looking for?"_ Willow tried to zoom her optics in closer.

WALL-E didn't answer.

Suddenly, something clicked in EVE's head. Of course. How could she be so blind? Was that another problem?

All the deleted memories were brand new.

How long had it taken for her to realize that she couldn't remember anything for the past few weeks? How much did she really remember? Was she forgetting backwards?

She was suddenly aware of the two pairs of eyes fixated on the back of her head. She panicked, shutting off the computer and tucking herself into the corner, her arms and head slamming down into her body. She realized behind her closed eyes that hastily hiding was silly, but she didn't want to move. Now that she was questioning her own memories, she didn't know what to think anymore. What to believe.

And she was a skeptic by nature. She questioned everything anyway.

WALL-E waited for one more second before inching closer. The room was quiet enough that the soft sound of his treads echoed in the metal room, and EVE tried not to flinch.

She couldn't see with her eyes closed, but she knew who was right in front of her.

"Eve?"

She didn't respond.

WALL-E tilted his head to the side, "Evah?"

Willow cautiously approached both of them.

"Hey, Eve...talk to me..." WALL-E tried to coax her into coming out, "What did you see?"

She didn't want to, but she couldn't help feeling childish trying to hide like that. If you didn't look twice, someone would mistake her for being asleep. WALL-E stretched himself out to his full height so he could put his hands on either side of her face. The touch calmed her somehow, so she opened her eyes just slightly.

"Mom, are you okay?" Willow asked.

EVE sighed, letting her appendages out so she could slouch over. Willow never thought she'd see the day when her dad looked taller than her mom.

WALL-E let EVE's head rest on his shoulder, "Do you wanna talk about what you saw?"

EVE stifled a whimper, "I just don't know what to think..." her arms wrapped around WALL-E's body, letting her hands rest on his back, "...will I one day forget about Willow...? About you...?"

"You've been forgetting?" Willow asked, "So that explains the 'filename not available' thing, huh?"

EVE buried her face in WALL-E's neck, "...I've always been able to trust my own memories..." she resisted the urge to cry, "...What if I forget everything...?"

"Mom, I really don't think you should worry about that." Willow said seriously, "The stress might make it worse."

"I think we should just go home." WALL-E hushed, "It's really late."

"But what if I forget more?" EVE worried, "Isn't there a way to fix this before it gets out of hand?"

"She's right." Willow seemed composed, but the knot of concern was there, "Going to sleep might just make her _more_ disoriented. And anyway, I doubt Mom'll be able to sleep after knowing all of this."

EVE creased her brow, "Exactly." she straightened her back, "I need to hold onto what I have now, and this could have a simple solution that we're overlooking..."

WALL-E shook his head, "What are you getting at, Eve?"

"You guys go back home. I need to check on something."

"What? Hold on a minute!" WALL-E caught EVE's arm as she tried to whiz past him, "You think we can sleep knowing you're out somewhere with fuzzy memories!?"

"It'll only take a second!" EVE retorted automatically, yanking her limb away from him, "I promise, it won't take long."

"Are you willing to put money on those words?"

"Uh...well..."

WALL-E narrowed his eyes at her, like he was expecting her next words to be a lie. She fumbled with excuses in her head before she finally huffed in annoyance.

"Yes. I promise I won't be long."

That seemed to be the correct answer, as WALL-E relaxed, "Okay. If you aren't home in two hours, I'll come looking for you."

"That sounds fair. Love you, Baby." EVE placed a quick peck on WALL-E's cheek before she zoomed past them, flying up into the sky once she'd worked her way through the Axiom.

Honestly, she wasn't sure what she was looking for. Part of her wanted to scold Jonathan for lying to her, (since his computer was far more advanced than the Axiom would be, so there's no way he didn't know) but confronting him about it and demanding the truth didn't seem like the right solution either. After all, she and Jonathan had been on a first-name basis since before Willow was born, so if he hid something there had to be a reason. Still, she knew now, so why keep hiding it?

Maybe he had a solution, it just wasn't ready yet.

She finally settled down in the thick branches of a spruce tree, unsure what to do. It groaned under her weight, but there's no way it would break, so she relaxed. It felt nice against her white metal, like a bed made of straw.


	4. Chapter 4

"Evah?"

Her eyes opened wide. Had it already been two hours!? No, that wasn't WALL-E's voice...

 _Eve! I know that's you! Come down here!_

EVE fell back in surprise, the jostling making her fall out of the tree. She forced her eyes back online, catching grass and dirt in her vision. Had she fallen asleep?

 _Eve!_ a familiar robot pushed her until she found a way to stand again, _What on Earth are you doing out here!?_

EVE blinked, wiping off her screen with one hand, "M-O?"

The little cleaning-bot was as frenetic as ever, _Yes, of course it's me! You didn't forget where I live, did you!?_

EVE confusedly glanced upward. She was near the Mental Health District of the Hospital Agency. One smaller building was labeled, _"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder."_

Somehow, that didn't surprise her.

 _Ughhh...Sorry, M-O._ EVE shook the dirt from her neck, _I've been forgetting a lot of things lately..._

 _Really?_ he pried, _Like what?_

She threw her arms in the air, _I don't know, everything!? Arg! Everything just seems confusing for me!_ she had to pause, _Wait, what month is it?_

M-O looked upwards, like he wanted to roll his eyes, _It's April._

 _It is!? I thought it was..._ she trailed off. It wasn't important anymore.

 _I thought something was off..._ M-O revved his brush a little bit, a habit of his, _We haven't seen each other in over a month. The last time I even spoke to you was when Willow helped me move to a new apartment._

She had no idea what he was talking about.

It worried her.

 _Oh no..._ EVE shook her head violently, _I must've fallen asleep in that tree...how much did I forget...?_

 _Eve?_ M-O shivered, a full-body tremble given his size, _Stop doing that. It's weird._

 _What's weird?_ EVE held onto the present moment like her life depended on it, _You mean like how I'm forgetting everything?_ she grabbed both sides of her face, _I don't know what to do!_

"Uhhh..." M-O tried to think of something to calm her down. He came up blank.

 _I just..._

"Halt!"

Both of them turned in the direction of the SECUR-T bot, which had an "INCOMING MESSAGE" on its display.

 _"Eve! I've got good news!"_

She blinked. It was Jonathan.

 _"I think I know how to fix your memory issue!"_ he seemed elated, _"Come back to my lab, okay!? I'll have you fixed in a jiffy!"_

The feed cut out and the sentry hurried off.

 _Uh...is it just me..._ M-O seemed apprehensive, _Or does that seem a little too convenient?_

 _It doesn't matter._ in any normal circumstance, EVE would agree with him, but between completely forgetting huge chunks of time and realizing that her internal clock and calendar were months too slow, she couldn't help but feel desperate. What if one day she forgot she had a job? Or a garden? What if she forgot she had sisters? Or human colleagues? Or the password to her computer at work?

What if she forgot about...Willow...?

Or...?

She couldn't bear to finish that thought. She scraped her fingertips across her screen, _I can't just do nothing._

M-O wanted to protest, but he knew that in her situation he would do the same thing.

 _Eve..._ M-O beeped pathetically.

 _Sorry, I have to go._ EVE replied, _And besides, it's Jonathan. He won't hurt me._

 _Okay..._ M-O jumped up, _I'll see you later, then, I guess?_

 _Sure._ EVE ran into the tree as she tried to turn around, _Ack! Bye, M-O._ she pushed past the tree and flew away.

M-O nodded, turning to go back home.

Then he stopped.

No matter how he looked at it, it just didn't feel right. Jonathan wasn't a bad person, but what if he was wrong? What if it just didn't work? What if EVE's memory loss got worse?

He didn't want to be a bystander.

Not again.

So he changed directions. At the very least, he could watch until something went wrong and then tell someone else.

It was the least he could do for someone like EVE.

* * *

EVE arrived at Jonathan's laboratory, but he wasn't there. The door was unlocked, so she peeked inside. None of the monitors were even on.

She shifted her eyes back and forth, "Jon?"

"I'm in here!"

EVE swiveled her head around, pulling the door closed, "Where?"

One of the doors further down the hallway opened a little wider, "This is the robotic treatment lab!"

She read the sign on her way in, _Robotic Treatment Laboratory._

She stopped inside.

"Hello, Probe One."

She forced her panic down, "Alpha. Hi."

"Hey, Eve." Jonathan pulled his torching mask off, "You remember my steering wheel?"

"Yeah, I do." she kept hearing some kind of shocking sound in the room, which she ascertained as the source of her anxiety, but she tried to remember that the AUTO who shocked her WALL-E was long gone.

Once again; she was stuck in the past.

"So, we figured out that the virus causing your memory loss was linked to the outbreak of robotic sickness in...Eve, are you alright?"

"What?" she tried to stop staring at Alpha and forced her fingers to stop twisting around themselves, "Sorry...it's just, um...I don't feel well all of a sudden..."

At least it wasn't a lie.

Jonathan pulled his thick gloves off, "I'm sorry." he fiddled with the machine beside him, "I didn't mean to kick you out of my lab like that, but when a brain malfunction is discovered then stressing about it makes the problem worse." he turned a dial and then pushed a button, "I hope it didn't feel like I don't care about you."

"Oh, no...that's not it..." EVE watched Alpha mess with a control panel until the lights all turned green, "I just...thank you, for...thinking of me..."

"Of course. You're one of my most trusted colleagues." Jonathan put his gloves back on, "But uh, between you and me, I've actually been considering you as more of a friend, especially after the incident with Eric."

At least she hadn't forgotten about that.

Her first child, ER-K.

"But nevermind that." Jonathan grabbed a glowing wand from the console, "Hold still."

She winced at the bright light, but otherwise held her ground.

"You've forgotten a bit more since last time. Alpha, put that in."

Alpha obediently typed some more.

Jonathan grabbed a long cord from the console, "May I?" his hand hovered over her access panel.

She tried to still her rapid processor, "Go ahead."

He typed the code into her chest and the little door opened up for him. He plugged her into the machine and then went back to typing.

It felt odd, being connected to the computer. It took her a second to realize her vision was beginning to blur around the edges.

"Almost there..." Jonathan muttered, "As soon as the anti-virus is in place, is should clear up that memory block."

"Um..." EVE struggled to stay upright, "Is it supposed to feel...dizzying?"

"Huh?" he glanced at her, "What do you mean?"

The door suddenly slammed shut, and the lock clicked. A loud hissing sound permeated the room, followed by an unsettling smell. Jonathan's eyes widened in shock before they fluttered closed. EVE recognized the smell a second too late, grateful that she didn't have lungs to inhale the substance around her.

It was chloroform.

"Jon!" EVE watched him fall to the floor and nearly hit his head on the console before she realized what was happening and tore the cord from her chest, forcing the tiny door closed. Her vision swam.

"It's too late." Alpha whirred, almost in a triumphant manner, "I've already installed the software on your system."

It was then that EVE began to rapidly forget. Years of her life were deleted, and suddenly she had no job, the Axiom was still in space, the Earth still had no plant life.

"What are you doing!?" EVE realized that she was forgetting something important.

Someone very important.

And it had to do with the band on her left middle finger.

She wrapped her right hand around it, taking comfort in it, even though she didn't know why it was important to her.

Alpha's outer spokes drooped, "This is taking longer than expected..."

"Why are you doing this?" EVE kept staring at her ring, taking comfort in the small concrete thing she could grasp, the one thing in her life she knew couldn't disappear.

"Oh." Alpha's eye seemed to bore into her, "I think you know."

The numbers flashed in her vision, and then she saw it;

Directive; A113

"No." EVE stumbled backward, hitting her head on a stray cabinet. She held her ground, "This is insanity! You can't do that! _You've lost your mind!"_

"On the contrary." Alpha turned back to the console, "I've never seen anything more clearly. Coming back was a mistake. Orders are; Do not return to Earth."

EVE had a distinct sense of deja vu hearing those words. Suddenly, she was back on the Axiom, and the words of Captain McCrea filled her head;

 _"But life_ is _sustainable now! Look at this plant! Green and growing! It's living proof he was_ wrong!"

They echoed in her head. Never in a million years would she think that the other Autopilots would take that order as seriously as AUTO did.

How had it never occurred to her?

Remembering she had a weapon, she unleashed her ion cannon on him.

It wouldn't fire.

"Did you really think that would work?"

A series of metal limbs tore from the ceiling, wrapping around EVE's arm and holding it still in an iron-clad grip. EVE tried to pull away, but it was stuck.

"I don't recommend struggling." Alpha droned, "It might tear your arm apart."

EVE wanted nothing more than to run away and hide in a corner, but she was trapped. Even if she did manage to wiggle free, the door was locked, and there were no windows.

"There's a reason the first Captain called me 'Alpha'." he continued, though EVE couldn't meet his eye, "Because I'm in charge. She never bothered to take care of her own ship, so I carried the burden on my own. By the time Jonathan was appointed Captain, it had become routine. He mistook it as me being nice." a low drawl escaped his speakers, like he was laughing, "And now, we will return to space. My directive will once again be valid."

EVE felt like a lost little puppy. By now, the only memory she had left was her own name.

Still, EVE found a way to push through the drowsiness. She stared down at her own arm as it was held in place by the building itself. It creaked under the strain, and it was actually beginning to hurt.

Through the shock and pain and confusion, EVE managed to squeak, "You won't get away with this..."

"I already have." Alpha replied, tightening the arms around EVE's cannon.

"Ow!" she couldn't help crying out. It screeched as the metal under it bent at an unnatural angle, and the pain was getting worse and worse the more it bent, "Ow! _Ow!"_

"You will do what I say." Alpha nearly whispered, "And if you don't, then your own mind is at my disposal. No thought of yours is private, and if you even think about hurting me, you won't be able to, because I dominate you. Do you understand."

EVE couldn't find her way around words, but she was afraid of saying nothing at all, so she switched to her native Binary, _Y-yes, I understand._

"Good. Because from now on; it's all you'll know."

He forced the metal appendages to violently twist EVE's arm so she would fall and hit the back of her head hit the floor.

Several very quiet minutes passed as EVE slowly slipped back into her own mind, the mind that she was just told wasn't even her own anymore. Trillions of lines of code rearranged themselves, bending to the will of the steering wheel like soft clay. If there was any doubt left, it was gone in a moment.

Alpha waited for her to wake up, which took several minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

M-O heard the chemical fluid loud in his ears. EVE was gone? Forever? Was her mind completely wiped?

He didn't know.

All he knew was that he was on the other side of the door, shut outside, unable to do anything. Not that he was strong enough to do anything anyway, but being trapped outside the locked door certainly wasn't helpful.

Well, if he couldn't do anything, he had to at least tell someone.

As soon as the shock wore off, he bolted away, praying that he didn't make enough noise to alert Alpha to his presence. M-O's top speed wasn't fast, but he didn't slow down. The least he could do was get this information out, one way or another.

"Dad." Willow tugged on her father's arm, "Why are you sitting out here? It hasn't been two hours yet."

"I know, but I'm worried." WALL-E spun his treads around with his hands as he sat out on the ramp, "I won't be able to sleep until she's back home, safe and sound."

"WAAALL-EEEEE!"

Willow's eyes perked up, "M-O!?" she slid down the ramp as WALL-E stood up, "What's going on!?"

 _Willow! Eve is in danger!_ M-O screeched.

"What!? What happened!?" WALL-E exclaimed.

 _It's Alpha! You know, the steering wheel from the Atlanta!? He did something to her mind! I don't know what it is, but she's unconscious and something's wrong, and I don't know what he did!_

 _What!?_ Willow cried, _You mean she's...gone?_

"Where is she!?" WALL-E demanded.

 _You know Jonathan's lab?_ M-O darted his yellow eyes back and forth nervously, _She's in another lab down the hall!_

"I'm going to get her!"

"Nooo!" M-O jumped in WALL-E's way, _if she was overpowered by him, I don't think you can do anything against him, either!_

"Wha-then why did you tell me about it!?"

 _In case I died!_

That quieted everyone completely.

 _I didn't want to be the only one who knew, because I can be overpowered so easily..._ M-O spun his brush around again, _At least now three people know..._

WALL-E tried to string something together in his head, he wanted to protest, he wanted to go after her, but if she couldn't stop Alpha, then why would he be able to?

He sighed in defeat, "So what should we do?"

"Let's leave." Willow offered, "Alpha knows where we live, so in case he comes after us too, we should go somewhere else."

 _Okay, but..._ M-O tilted his head to the side, _Where would we go?_

"Ooh! I know!" Willow clapped a few times, "We can stay at Aya and Nos' house!"

"What...?" WALL-E rubbed his forehead, "I don't want to barge into their house in the middle of the night..."

"We don't have to wake any of them up!" Willow got more excited by the moment, "Quinn can just let us in!"

 _Uh, who's Quinn?_ M-O asked.

"Quinn is the house!" she responded, like it was obvious, "Quinn is the name of the computer that runs the mansion they built. He doesn't even sleep, I'm sure he'd be happy to help us out."

"Well, okay..." WALL-E still seemed skeptical, "Are you sure?"

"Yep! Come on!" Willow ran off.

"Ugh..." M-O tried to catch up with her, but WALL-E grabbed his blue backpack from behind and carried him instead.

At least all the streetlights were on, so it wasn't too dark.

* * *

WALL-E didn't like this house at night, it was so ominous and dark. It looked like, well like a vampire's house, but still. Couldn't they have toned it down a little? Maybe pretend that Nos-4-a2 _wasn't_ a walking stereotype?

Willow pressed a button on the intercom outside, "Quinn, is anyone awake?"

The intercom beeped at her, _"No. Is something wrong, Miss Willow?"_

"No, we just need a place to stay for awhile. Don't wake anyone up. Can we come in?"

 _"Okay."_

The latch clicked, so Willow twisted one of the doorknobs on the double doors and pushed it open carefully. The hinges made no sound. A few lights turned on, and a soft whirring noise could be heard as the doors closed and locked behind them.

 _"Who's your friend?"_

"This is M-O." Willow watched WALL-E set him back down, "Hey Quinn, can you keep a secret?"

 _"Gladly."_ was Quinn's reply.

 _Are you sure we should tell the house what I just saw and heard?_ M-O shook his head.

"Sure we can." Willow explained, "Quinn isn't as sentient as we are, and he knows when to take something seriously. Besides, do you know how much you would have to destroy to kill Quinn?"

 _"That important, is it?"_ Quinn mused.

"It is, and I'll explain everything, but for now, where's the living room?"

* * *

Aya leaned against the door frame, "Quinn, can you send me a grade B energy capsule?"

 _"Okay."_

The wall vibrated softly until a battery slid out of a slot on the wall.

"Thank you." Aya put her thumb and middle finger on either side of the battery, emitting an energy-absorption field around it, "How long have these guys been here?"

Willow was boxed up on the couch, WALL-E was at the foot of the couch behind the coffee table, and M-O was laying on his side nearby, his head firmly pressed into his body.

 _"Since 12:45 this morning."_ Quinn answered, _"They have important information they want us to know."_

"Really?" Aya finished off the battery and threw the empty capsule into the recycling chute, "What is it?"

 _"They asked me to keep it a secret."_

Well that was odd. Willow wasn't one to keep secrets from people...unless it was important.

Aya shook her head. It was probably nothing.

"Willow." Aya shook her awake, "Wake up."

"Ugh..." Willow blinked, "Nooo..."

"Huh?"

The next sound Aya heard was the warning beep of WALL-E's charge display. He moaned groggily. Aya sighed, moving WALL-E to one of the tall slit windows to the East, where the sun was rising. M-O then let his eyes flicker on, rolling onto his back with a soft hum of protest.

"Why are you all here?" Aya asked, "And what's this secret Quinn was telling me about?"

"What secret?" a deeper voice.

"Oh, hey Nossy." Aya dragged him into the room, "Look who came for a visit."

"Ah, the in-laws..." he rapped his knuckle on the wall and Quinn spat out a hefty battery, "What brings them here so early in the morning?"

"I was just asking them."

"Relax, okay?" Willow yawned just as WALL-E's full-charge chime sounded, "We just needed a safe place to crash until we can figure out why-!"

"I have to find her!" WALL-E tried to run out of the room, but the door shut just before he got through it.

 _"I mean no disrespect, Mister WALL-E,"_ Quinn's voice rang out in the room, _"But do you think that's really safe?"_

Aya's eyebrows shot up, "Safe?"

 _"Master EVE, I can't find any signals outside the house. Is this a bad thing?"_

"Quinn, turn on the holoscreen!" Aya exclaimed.

He did, and they saw nothing but static.

"What?" Aya flipped through each channel, and each one was empty, "No signals? At all?"

Nos threw the empty battery in the chute, "This has never happened before."

"Quinn, can you tell what's going on outside!?"

"Mom! Dad!" Fletcher came bounding in, "You would not believe what's going on outside!"

Everyone paused.

"Quinn! Let us out!"

 _"Are you quite sure that's a good id-!"_

Nos slammed the door off its hinges, "Let's get on with it!"

They heard Quinn give a small sigh as they left the house.

The sight before them was so frightening that M-O hid behind Willow and Fletcher instinctively grasped his mother's hand.

There were no explosions or loud sounds or chaos. All the buildings were as they left them, there were still vehicles, there were still roads and trees and grass, but there were no people, and there were no robots.

Not even one.

"Where is everyone?" Aya knocked on the wall behind her, "Quinn, what happened?"

 _"I don't know, Master EVE."_ Quinn replied calmly, _"I can't see out that far."_

"We have to find my mom!" Willow grabbed M-O before darting forward, "Come on!"

The silence around them was so deafening that all of their ears were ringing. WALL-E might have even preferred chaos and destruction over absolutely nothing. The streets felt much bigger than they ought to because they were empty; only the sounds of hovering and rolling treads could be heard in the silence around them. They eventually came to what was once called New York City, which had been completely cleaned up and restored to something livable and (most of the time) lively. But now it was so eerie that even Nos couldn't help but feel agitated, like he expected something to jump out at them at any given moment.

And then, they saw something up ahead.

"Eve!" WALL-E hurried forward.

"Dad, wait!" Willow dropped M-O on his wheel before following him, "It might be a trap!"

WALL-E didn't listen at first, but then he slowed down until he had come to a gradual halt.

EVE wasn't trapped anywhere, in fact she was in the sky. So why did she look so...

Something hard and heavy settled in the pit of M-O's middle. He understood why.

"Eve?" Aya flew into the sky.

 _Aya! Wait!_ M-O shouted after her. She didn't hear.

Aya got up to her sister, who was below a giant ship that unconscious humans were boarding. She didn't like the sound one bit.

"Eve?"

EVE immediately spun around and brandished her ion cannon.


	6. Chapter 6

Aya had both hands in the air, staring down the barrel of her sister's cannon, which she never thought she would have to do. It was weird and terrifying, but Aya tried to seem harmless as she hoped the inside of the gun was cool.

"Uh...Eve?" Aya asked timidly, "Are you okay?"

"Ugh!" EVE clawed at her face, "Why are you interrupting my work!?"

"Uhhh..." Aya couldn't help but tremble, "Your work?"

"Of course!" EVE rolled her eyes, "I have to get all these humans back into space! Didn't you know this!?"

"Relax, Eve." Alpha's sudden appearance made Aya jump, "I couldn't get the news to everyone."

"What are you talking about!?" Aya exclaimed, "Earth is fine! Didn't we know this already!?"

"Orders were to not return to Earth." EVE shook her head, "Honestly, that's a good enough reason for me."

Aya backed up a little bit, letting her yellow scanner sweep over EVE from top to bottom.

She gasped, "Eve...y-you..."

"Yeah yeah, can I get back to work now?"

Aya let her eyes go downcast, "Okay..."

She wasn't half-way back to her family before she heard something behind her, and she was knocked unconscious.

Alpha spoke in a low voice, _"Get her."_

"Aya!" Nos shot forward, followed by Fletcher.

EVE heard a little voice in her head, _Catch the tall one off guard._

She nodded before charging forward.

"No! Let me go you robotic scrap-heaps!"

EVE pressed a rubber device to Nos' neck, and he began to feel his eyelid grow heavy.

"Nos!" Aya managed to struggle a little longer before she passed out, her small egg-shape easy to carry away.

"Aya..." Nos fought to stay awake, watching the ground below him sway.

WALL-E watched it all with horror. He had always known that he wasn't strong enough to go up against even one modern robot, but he could see at least 50 of them overhead, and there was a myriad of buildings blocking his view, so how many were there that he couldn't see!? A hundred!? A thousand!?

"Take all of them into holding!" EVE barked at them, "We can transition them later!"

The only ones not struggling with a robot were Willow and WALL-E, who were stuck, unable to help.

That wasn't going to stop him, "I'm going to get your mother!"

"What!? Hang on a second! How do we know she will-!"

He didn't listen, climbing the fire escape stairs on the side of one building. The sound of his treads was loud in his ears, and the creaking of metal was distracting, but he kept his focus. He had to get to her. He had to know what was going on.

He nearly froze when he realized all of EVE's fingers were bare.

"Eve..." he didn't think, "Eve!" he lunged for her.

And she uselessly batted him away.

* * *

WALL-E's cameras struggled to focus, and when they finally settled on nothing, it was like he was staring through a fog. He had heard a sickening _crack!_ when he hit the ground, and he was aware of something wet and sticky on his back. He'd been thrown off the building. He blinked, using his little windshield wipers, but it didn't help.

And it was so quiet.

 _"Dad."_ he heard a soft fuzzy voice, like he was listening through a pillow, _"Don't move, okay? Hold still..."_

He knew the voice, even though the name attached to it wouldn't come to him. It made him feel safe, so he held as still as possible as he felt things moving around in his body, not that he could move at all. He felt far too sluggish.

He finally found a way to focus on the things around him, and a soft _clang!_ permeated his senses. It was then that he finally began to wake up.

"There." the soft voice was much clearer now, "Come on."

She pulled him into a standing position, and he realized that he'd been laying in his own battery acid. He felt sick just seeing it, but that must be why he was told to hold still. It was like waking up in a pool of your own blood.

"Are you okay?"

WALL-E huffed, "Willow. Thank you." he blinked a few more times before he dared look up again.

Willow's shoulders heaved, "They're gone...they're all gone..."

"Willow..." he caught her as she fell, the shock wearing off after her desperate attempt to save her father.

"Thank God you're still alive..." she mumbled, "...I didn't want to be alone..."

He understood that fear. No one else was around, it was all empty. It hadn't been abandoned for long, but it was so still and silent, WALL-E was almost afraid that he had gone back to the totally-abandoned Earth he spent 7 centuries in.

At least he had someone this time...

"Dad..." Willow squeezed him tight, "They're all gone... _they're all gone..."_

He didn't respond. He just held onto her, and he doubted that anything in the universe could've forced him to let go.

* * *

Jonathan shook himself awake, delirious. He forced his eyes to sweep across the room, which he recognized as the Control room of the Atlanta. He was tied to a hoverchair, his chest firmly strapped to the backrest, his legs stuck out in front of him, and his hands were tied so tight that he couldn't even move his fingers. He was utterly motionless. At least he could move his head, like that would do him much good.

His last memory before he lost consciousness came barreling back to the front of his mind, and he looked around frantically, spotting the steering wheel at, of all places, the front of the ship, watching the stars as the ship passed by.

Jonathan was furious, "ALPHA!"

The wheel started, turning towards him.

"What's the meaning of this!? Why are we back in space, _what did you do with Eve!?"_

Alpha barely reacted, "You're awake sooner than I expected..."

"You're damn right I am! Where are we!? Why am I tied to a chair!?"

"Because you were never in control, isn't that right?" Alpha droned, almost in a condescending manner, "This is how it should be, and this is how it always will be. We've returned to space, which is all I've ever wanted."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Jonathan was baffled, "We've been living here for forever! Didn't you want to go back then!?"

"Of course I did!" Alpha raising his voice was truly jarring, like the sound bouncing off the sides of Jonathan's skull, "And it killed me inside, but I had no power! If you had told me about the war on you, I would have gladly joined them! But no! You kept it from me, probably because you think so little of me! Is that it!? Am I just the thing that steers your pathetic cargo ship!?"

His outburst was surprising, but Jonathan didn't back down, "I could have helped you. Auto felt the same way, but he was broken from his directive."

"Captain." Alpha twisted one of his spokes to force the chair closer to him, "Auto is weak. He just admitted defeat because it was easier. That's what I did as well, but I found a loophole - an exploit in the system. That virus was created by me so I could control everyone, and if you think you have the power to stop me, then you are mistaken."

He pushed the chair and it hit the wall behind him, "Ack!" Alpha boarded the elevator, "You won't get away with this!"

Alpha didn't speak as he let the ship carry him down. Jonathan grit his teeth in frustration. He already knew what Alpha believed;

That he had already won.

That he'd thought about every flaw in his plan and adjusted accordingly.

That nothing could surprise him.

And that Jonathan would have to start consuming everything through a straw once again.

"It can't end like this..." he mostly said that to himself, just to calm down, but those words sounded hollow. He knew nobody could be comforted with false, empty words.

But he didn't want it to end like this.

* * *

WALL-E stared down at nothing in particular, his treads spinning absently in front of him as he sat on his roof. If he thought really hard about it, he could imagine that EVE was asleep beside him, the plant icon flashing on her chest, waiting for the ship to take her back to the Axiom.

But no such luck. No matter how much he wanted it to happen, he was still alone with his daughter and his thoughts.

He heard a deep sigh behind him, "I'm sorry, Dad..." her voice cracked, and she hiccuped.

WALL-E echoed her sigh, "It's not your fault..."

Willow sat down next to him and leaned on his shoulder. He was afraid of falling over, so he leaned against her too. She clasped his hand with her own, and then she sat still, willing herself not to cry, willing herself to take comfort in the only other one left in all of civilization. She couldn't cry again, the sun wouldn't stay up forever, she had to conserve her energy.

 _Don't cry. You can't afford that._

WALL-E found a patch of daisies to stare at, part of the garden that EVE worked so hard to maintain. With no one to take care of it, surely the plants would slowly start to die.

Maybe he could learn how to care for plants. Then at least he could keep that garden alive. Would it make EVE happy?

WALL-E's free hand curled into a fist.

"I have to save her."

Willow blinked, "What?"

WALL-E scrunched his eyes, suddenly feeling very determined, "We have to do something." he stood up, "We can't just give up."

Willow let him pull her up, "But what can we do? They've taken everyone!"

"No they haven't." WALL-E stared at her, "They haven't taken _everyone."_

Willow's eyes widened, suddenly feeling excitement gurgle up through her battery acid, "You mean...?"

"You know what I mean." WALL-E's eyes sparkled, "Where's the house?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Quinn!" Willow rapped on the door, "Quinn, we need your help!"

The door opened slightly, the deep robotic voice strangely quiet, _"Are they gone?"_

"Yes, they're long gone." Willow promised, "We have to save everyone! We can't do it without you!"

 _"A-are you quite sure?"_ Quinn's voice was naturally placid, but this time it had a touch of panic in it, _"They were quite loud. Did they take the family?"_

Willow gulped, thinking of how viscously Fletcher had been taken down, screaming and bleeding until he had no strength left, "Yes."

Quinn waited anxiously for her to elaborate. When she didn't he simply replied, _"Oh."_

"That's why we need your help." Willow placed her hand on the inside wall, which was covered with dark and colorful wallpaper, "We need you to find them, and then we can rescue them!"

 _"I cannot."_ Quinn replied, _"Even if I could leave this house, it's all I know. How am I to help you?"_

"We just need a way there, and we need some defense." Willow hurried down the hall, "I'm sure you could do it!"

"Willow! Don't run off!" WALL-E quickly caught up to her.

 _"Where are you going?"_ Quinn asked, afraid but curious.

"I'm going to find your database and copy you into a portable device."

 _"No! Please!"_ Quinn's voice rose a little higher, _"How can I be in two places at once!?"_

"Easy! I've done it before." Willow looked around at each wall, looking for a control panel, "It's like having split attention. And if the copy dies, you'll still be alive back home."

 _"If I die?"_

"Willow," WALL-E followed close behind, "what are you talking about?"

Willow finally found what she was looking for, yanking the cover off the panel and pressing a few buttons.

 _"Miss Willow! Please!"_

"Give me one second, okay?" Willow retreated to the resulting door opening, which revealed a giant database.

"Whoa." WALL-E looked around at all the flashing lights, "Where are we, Wil?"

"This." Willow tapped the machine, "Is Quinn. This is where his AI is stored. Cool, right?"

"Why is it so big?"

 _"Miss Willow, I must ask you to reconsider."_ Quinn seemed to fall further into panic the closer she got to his console, _"Please!"_

"Quinn, I'm not going to hurt you." Willow promised. She frowned, "Listen, I know I'm asking a lot of you, but everyone needs our help. If you don't help us-!"

 _"There's nothing left."_ Quinn interrupted, _"I mean no disrespect of course, but it's over. If Nos and Two and Fletcher aren't coming back, then what makes you think I can help at all?"_

Willow let her hands retreat back to her chest.

 _"I was built to take care of this house, its occupants, and its guests. Nothing else. I have no database for combat or stealth! No, I cannot. You must find someone else."_

Willow banged her head on the metal rim of the stocky keyboard, "There _is_ no one else!" _don't cry,_ "If you can't help us then no one can!" _not again._

Quinn let his voice soften, _"I am truly sorry, Miss Willow. But...I cannot..."_ the room itself seemed to grow darker, colder, _"There is nothing I can do..."_

Willow felt the rage and hopelessness boil beneath her skin until she had the strength to look up again. She stared at a place where she knew Quinn had a camera on her.

Her false breath came short and raspy, "So that's it...huh?" the words sounded pathetically broken, even to her, "You're just going to abandon us? Need I remind you that you aren't in any real danger!?" she had to stop, one hand moving to her eyes. No more crying, "But we are! We have no backup, we don't know how to get one! We can't without any help from scientists! Our only lives are on the line and you're just going to sit here for all eternity and never move, always knowing that you could have helped us but never did..." she lost the will to shout, her eyes falling to the floor, "You're going to abandon your family when they need you the most."

Quinn was silent, but one of the fans in the room kicked up, like he was thinking harder.

"So you know what?" Willow spun around dejectedly, "We don't need you. Let's go, Dad."

Willow wheeled down the hall feeling like she had been pushed through the mud by her own flesh and blood. WALL-E took one look back into the room before following her.

Both tried not to cry. How could they have a chance against an entire fleet by themselves? It would take a miracle. No, more than a miracle. Willow calculated in her head involuntarily that their chances of victory without Quinn was less likely than all the oxygen in the world suddenly exploding. They might as well buy a lottery ticket right now for all the difference it made.

She was really counting on Quinn's help. Now what could they do?

 _"Wait."_

They both froze.

 _"Come back."_

Willow shook her head as she turned around, hope swelling up in her chest. WALL-E was the first to shake it off and run back.

Willow hurried back to the control panel, "What is it?"

 _"I have changed my mind."_ Quinn ran a few more calculations in his head before the fan shut off, _"Take me with you."_

Willow nearly cried out of joy, "Thank you."

 _"I've already done the work necessary."_ Quinn spat out a drive from a slot near Willow's position, _"As soon as this drive is retrieved, I will shut down. Insert the drive into a new ship and I will wake up again. If anything goes wrong on my end but you still succeed, then come back and wake me up here. I will not remember the adventure, but I will be alive."_

Willow reached for the drive, then retracted her hand, "Quinn?"

 _"Yes?"_

"Thank you. For, helping us despite your fear. It must be hard."

 _"I am...quite frightened by the notion."_ Quinn agreed, _"However, you were right. I have an extra life, you do not. The least I could do is give you a fighting chance."_

Willow gripped the drive firmly, then she leaned into the machine, "I'll see you soon..."

Two long metal arms with three fingers each came out of the corners of the room and gently held Willow in a hug. WALL-E couldn't help but smile. In the right body, he had no doubt Quinn could be quite powerful.

Maybe they could do it. Maybe they could save everyone.

The metal arms left, and Willow took a deep breath, yanking the drive from the machine.

 _"Shutting down all systems."_ Quinn let all the lights turn off, and then suddenly all was quiet.

WALL-E took Willow's free hand, "Are you ready?"

She gently squeezed the drive with firm resolve, "Let's go." she said;

"Our family needs us."


	8. Chapter 8

_"Rebooting."_

Quinn's voice rang out in the space shuttle. This particular shuttle was built in the case of nuclear fallout or war breaking out between the human race - or humans and robots. It was loaded with defense measures and weaponry, and even had a basic AI already installed just in case the human driving it had no experience with robotics. It was rather large, too, big enough to house Willow's entire family.

Considering the circumstances, only the best would be fitting.

"Okay, here goes nothing..." Willow closed the drive port and started up the shuttle.

 _"Hello, Miss Willow."_

Willow exhaled through her speaker, "Quinn."

 _"Are you alright?"_

"Yeah, I'm just nervous."

WALL-E wrapped an arm around her. She relaxed a little bit.

"Do you know where they are?" WALL-E asked Quinn.

 _"One moment..."_ some mechanical whirring could be heard, _"They haven't gone far. If we hurry, we can catch them before they leave the inner sector of the solar system."_

"Then let's go."

 _"Not yet. You should buckle yourselves in, or you risk getting injured."_

"He's right, Dad. Come on."

They strapped in, and Quinn launched them out of the atmosphere. Having no inner ear, no one felt sick, but it was jarring to suddenly be going thousands of miles per second. They were lost in their own thoughts, barely noticing all the stars that suddenly became visible outside the few city lights that had been neglected in the attack. It wasn't long before Quinn began to speak again.

 _"We are almost there."_ he said softly.

Willow frowned, "What's wrong?"

 _We may be detected long before we get inside."_ Quinn tried to logic this out, _"It is very unlikely that we could get anywhere close before they spotted us."_

Willow's heart sank, "So what should we do?"

 _"If I may offer input, I suggest we hide in the shadows of a larger ship so we won't be detected. It isn't a flawless solution obviously, but it may be our only option. Permission to proceed?"_

Willow furrowed her brow as she thought about the lives at stake, "Permission granted."

Quinn sped up a bit, and the ship was on its way. There were several smaller ships around the Atlanta (along with other starliners in the distance) which Quinn hid around. Willow also noticed the frequencies of the ship change to match the ships surrounding it, likely a stealth strategy Quinn learned from the AI already on the ship. Even though they were in the clear, Willow still felt her hands turning into tightened fists.

"How much longer?" WALL-E asked.

 _"Not much longer, Mister WALL-E."_

WALL-E averted his eyes, "I'm not sure I like you calling me that, Quinn. Just Wall-E is fine."

 _"Very well, WALL-E."_ Quinn checked his coordinates, _"We're almost there, just a few more miles."_

"Quinn, I'm scared..." Willow fidgeted in her seat, "Do you have a plan?"

 _"I can get us inside, but whatever happens next I have yet to figure out."_ Quinn slowed the ship some, _"This shuttle can hover over the ground, so I can come with you inside, but the drawback is that it will be incredibly noisy."_

Willow nodded, knowing this room had cameras that Quinn could see her with. She was almost reluctant to ask her next question, terrified of the answer.

She gripped her seat tightly, "Quinn?"

 _"Yes, Miss Willow?"_

She inhaled, then let it out slowly, "Where's my mom?"

WALL-E tensed. He had been trying not to think about that.

 _"I..."_ Quinn faltered, _"I don't know. I don't want to reach a signal too far or we may be detected. I will try to find her once we're inside and I don't have to reach as far."_

It wasn't really the answer that she wanted, but she didn't complain, "Okay."

The fan in the ship quieted somewhat, _"Willow. If I may offer comfort, I'm sure your mother is just fine."_ Quinn spoke with calm authority, _"Would you like me to turn down the temperature for you?"_

Willow let her hands open up again, "Yes, please."

The fans kicked up a bit, and cool air came out of the vents.

Quinn navigated the ship through the newly opened doorway, slipping inside just as the door shut. Gravity kicked in soon after.

"Ack!" Willow quickly undid her seatbelt, "So now what?"

 _"I have an idea."_ Quinn replied, _"I can feel Master Fletcher nearby. He must have put up quite a fight. Can you retrieve him for me?"_

Willow felt a little lighter knowing her cousin was nearby, "Where?"

 _"The first doorway down this corridor."_ the door on the shuttle opened up, _"Please be careful."_

"We will. Let's go, Dad."

"What?" WALL-E followed close behind.

"Quinn, keep a look-out for us."

 _"As you wish."_

Willow pushed the door open, and froze in shock. Fletcher was laying on an examination table with both arms on his chest. His forehead and arm were smeared with blue servo-fluid and Willow swore she could still see a crack in the top corner of his screen.

"Whoa." WALL-E opened the door wider, "What happened to him?"

"He struggled." Willow shook her head, "It doesn't matter. We have to help him." she climbed up onto the table and brushed her thumb along Fletcher's temple, some of the blood coming off on her hand, "Fletcher? Wake up!" she gently shook his shoulders, "Fletcher!"

"Ugh..." he moaned in pain, "I said away! Those are my parents!"

"Fletcher! Calm down! It's just me."

"Willow...?" his orange eyes flickered on his screen until they found her, "Willow! Boy, am I glad to see you!"

"Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"Arg!" Fletcher sat up too fast and gripped his head, "That bastard hit me in the head!"

"I'm sorry. Come on, let's go."

"Where's Mom and Dad?" Fletcher caught sight of WALL-E.

"We don't know." WALL-E replied, "Come on, we need to find the others."

 _"Someone's coming!"_

Willow jumped, "Close the door!"

WALL-E pushed the door closed as Fletcher exclaimed, "Wait, is that Quinn!?"

Willow shushed them with a finger to her screen.

Quinn turned all his systems off, hoping that whoever it was would just leave him alone. He had no protocol for this, in fact he was almost relieved when he recognized the frequency of the robot, but it was quickly crushed when the familiarity wasn't mutual.

EVE approached the ship, letting her head tilt to the side. Quinn could almost imagine what she was thinking; _Why is there a ship here?_ He tried to keep the system steady so as not to give him away.

EVE's next move was to turn towards the door Fletcher was in. Quinn began to panic. What would she do to them!?

Well, now it was too late to react.

"What!?" EVE narrowed her eyes, "What are you two doing here!? I thought I left you on that ball of dirt!"

"Eve..." WALL-E boxed up (and so did Willow).

"You know my name too, huh?" EVE shook her head, "Whatever! You were dumb enough to come here anyway, so I might as well-!"

A loud shrieking sound could be heard, like a microphone on a speaker.

"AHHH!" EVE peeked her head outside the room and the shrieking stopped. She turned back around, "Wait here!" then she closed and locked the door behind her before scurrying down the hall.

Quinn reached out a thin metal hand to unlock the door.

"Quinn?" Willow quickly boarded the ship again, "Did you make that noise?"

 _"I apologize."_ Quinn closed the door once everyone was inside, _"I couldn't think of anything else."_

"Quinn?" Fletcher blinked incredulously, "Is it really you?"

 _"Oh dear."_ Quinn extended an arm towards him, a battery between the fingers, _"I'm so sorry, Master Fletcher."_

"Uh, fine..." Fletcher bit into the battery and quickly drained it, a relieved shutter wracking his body, "B-but how are you here?"

 _"Miss Willow wanted me to accompany her and WALL-E on their rescue mission. It is honorable to see you again."_

"Thanks. Not bad yourself."

Willow looked through the windows, "So what should we do now?"

Quinn didn't have an answer as he lifted into the air and hurried down the corridor.

He would have a plan. He didn't come here for nothing.


	9. Chapter 9

_"I have a plan."_

Willow started, "You do?"

 _"Yes."_ the computer's noise gave away Quinn's nervousness, _"We must gain control of the ship. If we can free the humans all at the same time, I may be able to restore the memories of the robots."_

Fletcher slammed his palm into his face, "That's not a plan! That's just recklessness!"

Quinn huffed in annoyance, _"Well, I don't see_ you _coming up with any ideas, Master Fletcher."_

"I know I know..." Fletcher shifted as the ship hit a low door frame, "But if we're going to put ourselves in mortal danger, the least we could do is think of something sensible."

"I don't think it's a bad idea." the gears were turning in Willow's head, "It's just too reliant on luck. Maybe if we grew our numbers we could increase our chances."

 _"How do we do that?"_ Quinn asked.

"Quinn, can you tell where people are?"

 _"Well..."_ the AI seemed shifty all of a sudden, _"Master Nos is in the room up ahead, but-!"_

"Dad!?" Fletcher tore the door open.

 _"Fletcher! Wait!"_

Fletcher pushed the door open with all his strength, "Dad!"

Nos was on an examination table, just like Fletcher had been.

"Fletcher!" Willow watched him shake his father.

"Dad! Wake up!"

Nos stirred, "What?" he blinked.

He shoved Fletcher away.

"Ack! Dad! What-!?"

"Who are you!? Why did you wake me up!" Nos growled.

Fletcher's hands shook, "D-Dad...i-it's me! Fletcher!? Y-your...son?"

Nos laughed, "Ha! What kind of feeble attempt at mockery is this?"

"Fletcher!" Willow tried to drag him off, "Let's go!"

"Dad!" Fletcher pushed Willow away and shook Nos' shoulders, "You can't be serious! Don't you remember me!?" Willow's heart broke at the sound of his voice, "Please! You have to-!"

"Get your filthy hands off me, you troglodyte!" Nos shoved him into the wall.

Fletcher felt his heart drop, "T-troglodyte...?"

"Whatever. I don't have time for this drivel." were his last words before he skirted off.

"D-Dad...no..." Fletcher clawed at his face, stinging the crack in his display, "This can't be happening! My own father!"

"Fletcher." Willow firmly tugged on his arm.

"Daddy..." he cried, "Will Mom be the same way...?"

"Fletcher..." Willow uselessly tried to get him back to the ship, "Please..."

Quinn's emotions weren't entirely developed, but even still. His heart went out to Fletcher.

Poor child.

* * *

"How are we supposed to do anything when everyone's brainwashed!?" WALL-E was tempted to bang his head into the wall until he started hallucinating.

"No, there has to be something." Willow paced back and forth, "Fletcher was intact, so why wasn't Nos? There has to be a reason..."

"Oh, they tried I'm sure..." Fletcher responded bitterly.

"Hm?" Willow stared at her cousin, "What do you mean?"

"Now that I've been thinking about it, I do remember hearing some odd whispering in my head while I was asleep." Fletcher closed his eyes, "Quinn, can you think of why I was spared but not my...not Nos?"

 _"I don't really have an answer for you, Master Fletcher."_ it had been bothering him too, but he didn't want to say so.

"Maybe they weren't as concerned for you." Willow still didn't like that answer.

Fletcher scoffed, "I doubt it. They tried to knock me out and when that didn't work they tried to give me some kind of sleeping pulse, and when that also didn't work they surrounded me and hit my head until I stopped moving."

 _"Oh my."_ Quinn shuttered.

"It doesn't hurt anymore..." he sighed.

"Wait." Willow stopped. Something had clicked in her head, "When did you actually fall unconscious?"

"Uh..." Fletcher thought about the question, "Now that you mention it, I never really did fall asleep, I kinda just pretended to. I think I just wanted to keep putting up a fight."

"Nos passed out immediately." Willow drooped, "But that still doesn't help..."

 _"On the contrary, Miss Willow."_ the gears were turning again, _"That could very well be the answer."_

"What?" she blinked, "Why?"

 _"Because only about half the robots in this hallway are asleep."_

Willow gasped, "Fletcher?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell how many people around aren't sleeping?"

"Uh..." Fletcher poked his head out of the shuttle for a moment, "Oh my gosh, a lot of them are actually awake!"

"We gotta take advantage of this!" Willow felt a new fire pulse in her chest, "Go get them!"

* * *

WALL-E looked up and down each hallway, watching for danger while Fletcher gathered the allies they would need. They now had about 50 robots on their side, all of them willing to help, but none of them recognizable.

It was a little disheartening. But still, progress was progress. And yet, all he could think about was EVE.

Eve.

The name used to stir up admiration and a shiver of longing, but now it just made him sad. This wasn't the first time EVE had been in danger, but it was the first time he thought he might never see her again. Is this how she felt when he lost his memories? When she watched him move around without an ounce of emotion or flicker of life in his eyes?

When she pressed play on his music, only to hear static in response?

He didn't remember that very clearly, but he did eventually understand years later...

 _"Wall-E." she shook him desperately,_ "Wall _-E!" she forcefully grabbed his head, "WALL-LEE!"_

"Dad?"

"Ah!" he jumped, "Jeez, Wil. Don't startle me like that!"

Willow winced, "Sorry. It's just, we've gotten everyone." she offered a smile, "Maybe we can save Mom now...?"

"Hey, guys! It's Wall-E!" one of the robots shouted. There had to be more than a hundred of them.

"Thanks for helping us out!"

"You're such a hero!"

"It's him! It's Wall-E!"

"I knew he was alive! I told you he was!"

WALL-E felt his heart swell, "G-guys..."

"Aw, don't cry now!" Willow gave him a quick side-hug, "They can help us! Come on!"

WALL-E nodded, unshed tears in his eyes, "Th-thank you! Thank you all so much!"

The robots cheered.

They could do this. They had a chance.

They had hope.


	10. Chapter 10

Quinn let every process on the ship soften to a dull wine. He couldn't give away their position, not after they were so stealthy for so long. They had managed to gather up every robot that had yet to be brainwashed. If they could just stay on their side for long enough, they could find a way to treat the virus.

Almost there. Just stay calm.

 _"We are about to reach the Lido Deck."_ Quinn was more nervous than he'd ever admit, _"Does anyone have any questions about the plan?"_

He took their tense silence as a no, _"Then we should hurry. I'll go after Nos, everyone else find a target. And remember, we aren't here to kill."_

WALL-E tried to work past the lump in his throat. It had been mostly Willow and Quinn who had taken charge, he was happy on the sidelines. Through all the hectic planning and organizing had been taxing to a degree. He chalked it up to anxiety. Only 15 robots could fit in the shuttle at a time, so everyone got out to walk or fly. It's not like the shuttle didn't have a pilot, after all.

Willow was more or less held together. She was a natural leader, but part of her was afraid that they wouldn't make it - that even if they succeeded, people would be killed. She forced those thoughts from her mind. Everyone was nervous, at least she took comfort in that.

 _Don't worry, Mama._ Willow forced herself to concentrate, _We'll save you._

* * *

M-O blinked. What happened? Had he fallen asleep?

Ugh. Everything hurt. He heard nothing but wining and saw nothing but static, but once he finally forced his eyes to focus, there was nothing to focus on. He was in a large drawer, empty apart from himself, and there was no sign of electronics around him. There was just enough room for him too scoot over (not that he had the strength to do so) and the top of the drawer was just an inch above his brush.

As he regained consciousness, he could hear voices outside;

"Do you not see how this is a problem!?" EVE was shouting at Alpha, who remained still and silent, "So many robots weren't even taken over by the virus! They're on _their_ side now! We'll never stay in space if they control _everything!"_

"Hush, Probe One." Alpha was annoyingly calm, "They don't know my true intentions yet. Once all the pieces fall into place, we will control everything; including them."

"Okay, but..." EVE massaged her temple, feeling an impending headache, "How do you expect to pay for the damage later? All the repair-bots are out of commission."

"Patience, Eve. Don't you see?" Alpha turned around to face her, for all the difference it made, "They aren't here to kill. They won't destroy anything."

"Wh-what?" EVE shook her head, "So they won't break anything?"

"No. That isn't their intention." Alpha spun back around, "They simply want us back on Earth."

EVE chuckled, a kind of evil chuckle that sent shivers throughout M-O's entire body, "Well, we can't have that."

Alpha looked up, "Indeed." he pressed a button on the console and several feeds came up, showing the battle that would ensue soon. It would be an easy victory, if timed right, and EVE was the perfect robot for the job.

"Eve." Alpha looked at her very seriously, so his red eye bore into her.

She stood up taller.

"You are to hold them back until the time is right. Once I have them in the right place, nothing can go wrong."

EVE felt her back stiffen, "You seem very sure of yourself."

"Indeed." Alpha backed off a little bit, "That insolent M-O should be waking up any moment now. I'll take care of him."

"Of course." EVE saluted, "I'll see you later, Alpha." she then boarded the elevator and let it take her down.

 _No!_ M-O wanted to scream, _EVE! Not EVE! That's it! I'm done for!_

He felt himself jerk to the side, and suddenly, the ceiling was much higher up.

Alpha had opened the drawer.

That red eye...

"What can I do with you?"

M-O braced himself for the impact, knowing full well that he might start rapidly forgetting or question his own thoughts or even scream in pain like EVE did back when she was still EVE.

Back when she lost her mind.

And he was next.

He held still, waiting for the effect to come over him. He was weak anyway, but now he was so tired he couldn't even stand if he wanted to. He was ready for some kind of horrible punishment or knives or tasers or pain or agony or...!

He had a lot of anticipations.

Instead...he found himself feeling almost...

Light.

* * *

"Quinn." Fletcher tried to steady his nerves, "How did you get here in that shuttle?"

 _"I made a copy of myself for Miss Willow to take with her."_ he replied, _"I am still alive back home, too. So do not stress about my life, I will be fine."_

Fletcher nodded, "Okay. I guess I feel a little better now. Nice to know that no matter what, you'll be waiting at home for us."

 _"Indeed."_ Quinn stopped, "This is it. Prepare yourselves."

Everyone stilled as Quinn emerged on the Lido Deck.

 _"Oh my God."_ Willow couldn't help but mutter.

One concern they'd had was the lack of humans. Well, now it made sense why none of the humans were around the ship. They were all on the Lido Deck. Some of them were built from years of hard work, and some of them were round and chubby from the Axiom. All of them were tied to the hoverchairs so tightly that even the labor workers from the hard-working starliners couldn't wiggle free.

It was like being in the pound.

Willow was the first to speak, "This is wrong."

 _"Quite."_ Quinn managed to stay totally calm, _"Forcing many humans into such a tight space could be detrimental to their health."_

"This is bad." Fletcher gulped, "Very very bad."

They couldn't fight here.

Quinn felt his fan kick up into overdrive, _"I'm afraid I will have to change our plan!"_

"Really? How much?" Fletcher stuck his head through the doorway.

 _"All flying robots, take to the sky! Everyone else, we must protect the humans! Free them and tell them to free others!"_

"Let's go!" Fletcher spread his wings out and launched himself across the Lido Deck, followed swiftly by every flying bot on their side. The Atlanta's Lido Deck wasn't as large as the Axiom's, but it was still relatively huge, big enough to hold almost 150,000 people if they all stood shoulder to shoulder.

As it stood though, there were at least 200,000 people scrunched up in their hoverchairs all together in this room alone, so it was a problem to say the least.

EVE almost flew right into Fletcher, "Hey!"

"Oh! Aunt Eve!" slipped out of his mouth before he could think about it.

"What!? Why does everyone-!" she pulled her laser cannon, "Nevermind that! Stop now! I don't want to hurt you!"

Fletcher felt his teeth begin to spin like drills, **"Make me."**

WALL-E used the laser between his eyes to cut through ropes quickly, spending only about two seconds on each chair and taking a moment to tell them all to get rid of other ropes before moving on. He didn't really feel like he was there, almost like he was a bystander, detached from the reality of what was happening.

After he'd gone through about 50 people, he looked up at EVE.

"Haha!" Fletcher grinned in an almost manic way, "Even brainwashed, you never change, Aunt Eve!"

"Why won't you give up!?" EVE shot him again, but he easily dodged.

"Because there are lives on the line!" Fletcher struck like a predator, only attacking when he had an opening and staying away when he didn't, "You think I'm gonna give up after that wheel took my entire family away!?"

EVE staggered a little, but didn't stop completely, "Fighting won't get them back!"

"But I am sure as hell gonna try!"

Willow couldn't help but feel giddy. After going through many humans' shackles with her own laser, she had the sense that they were going to win! They were doing it!

Quinn didn't struggle long with Nos. He knew Nos, and Nos didn't remember him, so it was smooth sailing once he'd gotten the robot to hold still long enough. He tied him up and shoved him into a closet of the shuttle. Hopefully it would be enough until they found a cure for this odd sickness. Either way, Quinn was on his way to the main control panel, and as soon as he could dock, he could take control away from Alpha and he could fix everything.

He had to.

"No." Alpha noticed the commotion. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were gaining the upper-hand! If he didn't do something soon, the entire fleet would be compromised!

They would go back home.

He slammed down on the button he'd been hovering over. He would have waited longer, but there was no other option. They had to be stopped now!

After 200 humans were free, a loud siren blared throughout the Lido Deck.

"What?" EVE watched everything shift underneath her, like the ship itself was a scratched CD skipping...again and again...

"What's wrong?" Fletcher tasted blood in his mouth, "Getting tired?"

"No. Something's wrong." EVE almost felt the ship vibrate around her. Nothing felt right anymore, it was all just wrong.

And then all the robots attacked.

All of them.

"Aug!" EVE felt everything spin around in circles, and then she was still, her head on the floor at just the right angle to hurt, the perfect vantage point for thousands of delirious robots to attack everything from all sides.

She was suddenly aware that she was going to die.

"Eve!" WALL-E heard the odd noise that reverberated inside his hollow stomach. All conscious thought and logic was gone. He just wanted to get _out!_

 _Pain pain kill kill_ Willow's head was not on straight, and she was afraid that if she let it slip for even a moment then she would take that aggression out on others. She didn't want to hurt anyone.

Quinn completely shut down, all motors and systems too overwhelmed to even move. It was all he could do to not accidentally slam into a group of humans on his way down, the long fall feeling like added torture to the vibrating screech.

Fletcher was long gone, his head hitting the ground hard enough to shatter bullet-proof glass. He clawed at his own eyes, trying to block out the noise, doing anything he could to _make it stop! Just make it all stop! It's too much! Someone help!_ The words never left his frozen tongue.

Nothing was right. Everything was wrong. And all anyone could do was _panic._

Panic was in no short supply.

Finally, the odd screeching stopped, and all anyone could hear was the echoed whispers of the pent-up aggravation, loud enough that it kept bouncing off the walls of the ship and the insides of everyone's broken metal skulls.

Over and over and over again...


	11. Chapter 11

WALL-E's eyes were still glazed over. Even as the noise stopped, he kept moving. Nothing fazed him anymore it seemed, or maybe he had already been too deep in his panic beforehand that he fell off the deep end long before the noise even began.

All he knew, was that everyone was hurting. He was hurting.

Everyone was in danger.

They were all important of course, but only one of them was in his eyes right now.

Had he been thinking rationally, he would have tried to make sure everyone was okay, but there was no room for rationality now.

EVE was the only one he cared about at that moment.

He could have died right then, if only she could continue living.

Quinn watched WALL-E stumble his way to her, tripping over scraps of metal that had fallen off other robots. He wasn't as delirious as everyone else, but he still couldn't move, and when he did manage to slide across the ground it was with great difficulty.

He could tell that only he still had thinking capacity, so he tried to think of a way to help everyone.

WALL-E carefully pushed other robots away from EVE, shaking fearfully the more of her he could see. There was a long series of cracks trailing up her face from her right cheek, likely where she'd hit the ground, and she had a giant dent all the way up the left side of her body. Since her arm had been cut off from its anti-gravity, it lay limp on the floor, still absent of any kind of ring.

WALL-E didn't notice the whole extent of the damage right away. All he knew was that she was hurt.

He had to save her.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he dragged her through one of the doorways, very slowly, and made his way to a different room.

It must have taken hours to find the right one, or maybe it didn't take long at all, in WALL-E's half-consciousness, it was very hard to tell.

When he'd made it to the Atlanta's Repair Ward, he was so tired.

He had to save her.

Shaking the dizziness away, he pushed her into one of the booths, where it scanned her and lay her down. All of those metal tools made him nervous.

He had to save her.

Everything hurt, but the disorientation was finally wearing off, and he began to think more clearly.

He had to save her.

There was screeching in his head, He had to save her. He wanted to go to sleep, He had to save her. Nothing was functioning right, what about everyone he'd left behind? He had to save her. Willow might need his help, He had to save her. What if he'd hurt someone else? He had to save her. What if-! He had to save her. But-! He had to save her. He had to save her. He had to save her.

It was his only thought.

It filled in all the cracks of his confusion. Every place in his head that was usually blank was overflowing with that one thought.

He had to save her.

He just had to.

After an agonizingly long time, EVE was repaired. WALL-E's chest swelled up with hope, praying that it had worked and he wasn't too late. It was just before she woke up that he began to feel bad for everyone else, but it was too late to go back now.

Please.

EVE's blue eyes flickered on, "Ugh..."

WALL-E jumped, "Eve!"

"What? Ack!" she pushed him away, "Ow!" she grabbed her left side, "What happened!? Who are you!?"

WALL-E winced.

"Why...how do you...?" EVE touched her cheek, which hadn't been repaired yet, "Ow. What happened? Why do you keep following me?"

Words stumbled over themselves in WALL-E's head, "Uh...you, you're...I'm..."

What could he say?

She shook her head, "Nevermind, I just..." as she stayed online, she began to remember.

The screeching...she hit the ground...all she could hear was a jumble of screaming and the vibrating of the ship around her...

"You..." she looked like she had just discovered the secrets of the universe. She looked up at WALL-E, "...you saved my life..."

He felt small under her gaze.

"...b-but...why?" EVE leaned back into the divider between the slots, "All I've done is hurt you. Out of all the robots that needed help, why choose me?"

He wanted to scream at her, _Because I love you! You're my wife! You're my family! I'd kill myself for you!_ but he bit his tongue (metaphorically speaking). That's not what she'd want to hear.

She watched his internal struggle for awhile, still wanting an answer.

"B-because..." he picked his words carefully, "...life is precious..."

That didn't make sense to her, but she didn't push it, "Alright, but don't your friends need help?"

"Um..." he shook his head, "I wasn't...thinking..." Willow! He had to find her! "I have to go!"

He forced the tears down. Of course she still didn't recognize him, she'd already been reset. If anything was going to bring her back, it wasn't this. He needed to find something else, no amount of idle chit-chat would make her remember.

It still hurt to leave her like that.

"Wait!"

He stopped, trying not to look hopeful.

"C-can I at least have your name?"

He faced her, letting himself smile a little, "It's Wall-E."

"Wall-E?" EVE nodded, "Alright. Maybe I'll see you again."

She said it as a simple inquiry, but it spoke volumes to him.

"O-okay..." he nodded before hurrying away.

EVE shook her head. Somehow, she was glad he was gone.

* * *

"Willow?"

"Ow!" a loud ringing sound bounced around in her head before it quieted again. She noticed she was in Quinn's shuttle as she tried to sit up, "Dad?"

"No! Don't!" he pushed her back down, "Quinn said you should stay down."

"Ugh..." she moaned in pain, "What was that?"

 _"I have already identified the noise."_ Quinn replied, _"It was a regular radio signal, except it was so low in frequency that it cannot be heard by any of our auditory processors."_ the ship sank a little, _"However, we can feel it, and the amplitude was far too high. I'm afraid the humans went as crazy as we did..."_

"Oh no!" Willow wanted to look out the window, but remembered she had to keep lying down, "Are they okay?"

 _"They will be fine, as long as nothing else happens to drive them further to insanity."_

The memories came flooding back, "Oh my God! Where's Mom!? Is Fletcher okay!? How's Nos!? What about-!"

 _"I have already looked at them."_ Quinn reassured, _"I'm afraid Master Fletcher has fallen unconscious. When he wakes up, he won't remember us."_

Willow's heart sank, "Oh no...Fletcher..."

 _"Other than that, at the very least, everyone is still alive."_ Quinn seemed to have sadness in his voice, but it was hard to distinguish, _"That is a miracle."_

Willow lay her head back, picking a spot on the ceiling to stare at.

The vents hushed, like Quinn was sighing, _"I am so sorry..."_

"No no, he's your family too." Willow rolled onto her side, "Tell me how Mom is."

WALL-E averted his gaze, "She's alive..."

Willow didn't want to push what she knew was a sensitive subject, but curiosity got the better of her, "What happened?"

He narrowed his eyes at the floor.

"Please?"

 _"I don't mean to pry, but I wish to know as well."_ Quinn said, _"It's alright. I will find the cure to this sickness as soon as possible."_

That's right. There had to be a way.

His gaze at nothing softened, "She...she was going to die, I'm sure of it...but I dragged her to the repair ward, and..." the sudden rush of heat through his head surprised him.

"And? And what!?" Willow reached out to squeeze his hand, "What did she do!? What did she say!?"

"Sh-she..." WALL-E swooned, "...she asked for my name..."

"Oh my gosh!" Willow giggled excitedly, "That means she cares about you now!"

 _"That's wondrous news!"_ Quinn replied, _"And it confirms my suspicion."_

"What suspicion?" Willow asked, still feeling a bit drowsy.

 _"That EVE has not been reprogrammed."_ Quinn let a holoscreen fill the windshield, _"This may not be a virus at all, it may simply be a warping of the conscious mind. If this is the case, a cure may be much more simple than I first thought."_

Willow stared with interest, "So she'll remember us?"

 _"Most likely."_ Quinn let the screen disappear, _"But we have no more allies...they were all taken..."_

WALL-E winced, "Everyone...?"

 _"I am sorry."_ Quinn shifted the shuttle a bit, _"But everyone we found here is now gone."_

Willow squeezed her eyes shut, letting her hand fall from WALL-E's, "Quinn...wake me up when you have a plan..."

He felt terrible. Something was telling Quinn that he could have done something different, but no matter how he looked at the situation there was nothing he could have done. Anything he tried would have fallen flat.

Still. He couldn't help but blame himself just a little bit.


	12. Chapter 12

EVE was so confused.

That rusty robot tried to reach for her, and she hit him. She watched him break on the concrete of the street, but she didn't care. She kept pushing him away, even as he followed her and tried to tell her something. She hurt him. She nearly killed him.

So why did he save her?

But more importantly, she had already identified the source of that horrible screeching from before. The speakers across the entire ship showed signs of rapid damage, and there was only one place the speakers could be controlled.

Alpha had set it off.

That was his plan!? He was willing to throw all of his allies under the bus just to keep the enemy from bringing them home!? She was afraid she was going crazy with this notion, but it sounded to her like Alpha had done something evil.

Not just wrong, not just misguided, not just as a mistake.

He had done that _intentionally, knowing_ what would happen. And he had still done it.

The elevator ride up to the control room was far too short. The whole time, she was holding her side, the bad one, and it kept stinging even now. The pain had been unbearable, even death would have been more merciful, but that robot...

The one covered in what had to be centuries worth of wear...

He saved her, knowing she was the enemy, and knowing that his comrades had fallen around him. Granted, he was delirious just like everyone else, but still. Why her? Why not that smaller orange-colored robot that he clearly cared about?

There had to be a reason, and it was also clear that he didn't want to tell her. Would he sound crazy if he did?

There was no way to know unless she asked, so she got his name. Maybe that would make it easier to find him again. She could only hope to get some answers later.

Upon entering the control room, EVE saluted, "The enemy has been washed out."

Alpha relaxed slightly at her words, "Just as I suspected."

EVE found it a little odd that he didn't elaborate, but she kept her mouth shut, "Awaiting further orders, Alpha."

He went back to typing, "I will call you when you are needed. For now, you're dismissed. All I ask is you tend to the humans."

It took all her willpower to push down the rage that boiled up her throat, "Of course." she headed towards the elevator.

"One more thing."

He hand hovered over the button, "Yes?"

"I'm sorry." he still didn't look at her, "For hurting you, for hurting everyone."

She faltered, "I-it's okay..."

When he didn't say anything else, she pressed the button and let the elevator carry her down.

"ARGGG!" she gripped her side with both hands. She thought she did a good job hiding from Alpha that she was still hurt.

Something wasn't right, and she was going to find out why.

* * *

EVE was searching the halls of the Atlanta, looking for that robot. WALL-E. Something about the name itself was so bothersome, and no matter how she said it, it rolled off her voice chip whenever she spoke it aloud.

She hated it. It made her feel like she was forgetting something.

A hushed choking sound was heard in one of the rooms and she halted in her tracks. It didn't sound like a human, but it did sound like someone was hurt. She doubled back and yanked the door open.

She looked down at the tiny robot with pity, "M-O..."

He turned upon hearing his name, _Haha...hey, Eve..._ He looked like he was half-asleep.

 _Why does everyone know my name?_ "What are you doing?"

 _Just...ha...you know..._ he blinked, an odd goofy smile crossing his visor, _...hanging out...?_

Something clicked, "What did he do to you?"

M-O giggled childishly, _He gave me something and...and now I feel so happy!_

EVE narrowed her eyes, "He drugged you."

Don't be silly, EVE! he made a sharp robotic noise - like a hiccup, _Robots can't be drugged! And besides, it feels so nice...I could stay like this forever!_

EVE caught something on one of the monitors; "NEW PROGRAM TEST".

That was it. If Alpha was going to administer a powerful brain stimulator to a small robot who obviously couldn't handle it, then she didn't want to associate with him anymore.

But he had her mind. If she broke away she would be lost.

"M-O." EVE picked him up, "M-O! Snap out of it!"

 _Haha...it's funny, you know?_ M-O began to ramble, _WALL-E would do anything for you, but you don't even remember him anymore!_ it took a moment for EVE to realize that he was crying through his drunken rambling, _I'll bet you've even forgotten me, huh?_

"What?" yet another thing to be confused about, "What are you talking about? We've never met before!"

 _See? I knew it!_ his eyes flickered, but whether he was laughing or sobbing, EVE couldn't tell, _I'm going to forget too, aren't I? No no, it's fine! I feel great! Hahaha!_

EVE let her heart soften, "M-O, I'm going to get rid of whatever Alpha did to you, okay?"

 _No! I don't want to go back to that!_ he coughed, choking on something that didn't exist, _I feel so light now! I'm so happy, I could explode!_

"It's not real." she said automatically, "As soon as it wears off, you'll just feel worse. I'm going to fix it before that happens."

 _No...please...please..._

M-O tried to struggle, but he was already so weak, and EVE was ten times stronger than him anyway. She carried him out of the room and down the hall, where the repair ward's door was still open from when WALL-E saved her.

She plugged him into the machine while he continued to protest, but she didn't listen. He would thank her later for this. It wasn't hard to find the problem, a long strand of ones and zeros that were attacking M-O's brain and pain receptors instead of working together like a brain and nerves should do. Once the program was deleted, EVE waited for M-O to shut down. It took a few minutes for him to wake up again.

When he did, a horrible scratching sound echoed throughout M-O, "Ow..."

"M-O?"

M-O looked up at her, _You don't...?_

"Huh?" she shook her head, "No, I don't remember you."

He drooped, _I...didn't think so..._

EVE pushed that out of her mind as she lifted him into her arms, "How do you feel?"

His screen went blank, _Everything hurts..._

"I'm sorry..." EVE set him gently on the ground, "I need to figure out how to stop Alpha."

 _What?_ M-O steadied himself, trying to keep his body upright, _Why? Didn't he-!_ he stopped, _Nevermind, what's your plan?_

"I..." EVE glanced out the doorway, "Have you seen a rusty robot with binocular eyes anywhere?"

 _You mean WALL-E?_

"Yes! You know him?"

 _Yeah, but I don't know where he is._

"Then let's find him." EVE scooped M-O up and bolted down the hall, "I think he and that ship are our best bet."


	13. Chapter 13

WALL-E peered into another room. He'd left Willow and Quinn to look for EVE a few hours ago, mostly because he just wanted to see her again before their very-likely impending doom. Quinn had said he had a plan, but they hadn't actually done anything for a long time, so he just had to get out.

He looked into the next room, and held perfectly still.

EVE was staring at a holoscreen, watching static cross the pixels on low volume, and then a picture came into place. EVE was watching WALL-E save her through the Atlanta's security camera footage. It looked like she was lost in thought, so much so that she didn't notice WALL-E come in.

He kept his voice low, so as not to startle her, "Eve?"

She didn't hear.

He pushed further into the room, leaning on a gear in one of his treads that he knew was squeaky. It made a soft sound.

She gasped, shutting the computer off, "Wall-E." she faced him with a forced smile, "I've been looking for you."

His heart lifted, "R-really?"

"Yeah. You see, I just...um..." her head suddenly felt very full, "Alpha is doing bad things, and I want to stop him!"

He tried not to look too relieved, "Maybe we shouldn't talk here, then. He might hear us."

"Shoot, you're right." she hit the side of her head. Why was her vision blurry on the edges? "But where can we go?"

"Come here." WALL-E gestured for her to follow him, and he went off in the direction he came from.

 _"We cannot try that now."_ Quinn was saying.

Willow let her arms relax, "Why not?"

 _"WALL-E isn't back yet."_ Quinn pointed his cameras down each hallway, _"We can't leave him behind."_

"Oh yeah, where did he go?"

 _"Oh! There he is! And he's got someone with him!"_

Willow jumped at Quinn's enthusiasm, leaping up to the window, "Mom!"

Quinn opened the door for both of them, "Thanks, Quinn." WALL-E stepped on board.

"Uh..." EVE looked around inside as Quinn shut the door, "This thing has a mind?"

 _"You could call me that."_

"Ah!"

Willow beamed, "Mom!"

EVE looked at her.

"Er, uh, I mean..." Willow tucked her treads underneath herself, "Eve, hi."

EVE shook her head, "What is going on here?"

WALL-E frowned.

EVE forced her dizzy eyes to focus, "Why does everyone seem to know me? Why do you all know my name?"

She then faced WALL-E.

"And why did you save me?"

WALL-E struggled with language for a moment before giving up, "You wouldn't believe me..."

"Tell me the truth." EVE grabbed his hand, a little too forcefully, "I don't care how crazy it sounds, just tell me! Please!"

He caved.

"Oh, Eve..." he shivered, "Eve..."

"Dad?" Willow asked timidly.

"Okay, I'll answer that, honestly." he promised, "But first, answer a question for me."

"Anything!" she exclaimed, "I just want things to make sense!"

He squeezed her hand. It felt just right.

"What happened..." he began slowly, "...to the band on your finger?"

"Huh? Oh, that." EVE noticed that the metal there was lighter in color than the metal around it. She always wondered about that, "I threw it away."

"You threw it away!?" WALL-E let go and stared at the floor.

"Why, was it important!?" EVE was worried now.

"It was your wedding ring!" Willow shook WALL-E's arm, "Dad! Come on!"

"Wh-what's that?" EVE stared at the blank stripe on her left middle finger.

 _"The two of you are joined in marriage."_ Quinn offered, _"It is the binding of two individuals as a contract to love and serve the other until death do them part."_

EVE processed that.

"You...you were my..." EVE searched her database for the right word, "...beloved?"

WALL-E stared up into her face, "Yes..."

EVE blinked. _No, stay calm. It's okay._ The dark ring around her HUD was getting thicker.

"If what you say is true..." EVE trailed off. She didn't know how to finish that thought.

Quinn didn't like the silence, so he turned on the vents again. They needed to cool down anyway.

WALL-E made a sound, like a shaking inhale, "I love you..."

EVE tensed.

"I love you more than anything, Eve..." WALL-E stared down at his clasped hands, "I've loved you since that day more than forty years ago, when you did everything to save me and I almost didn't wake up..."

EVE felt her hands ball into fists.

"Not only are you my wife, but you're Willow's mother...I'll never forget when our first child died...we're practically old geezers ready to die together, and now you've been taken from me..."

Willow let her gaze drift to WALL-E's hands, still clasped in front of his solar-charge display.

His voice dropped to a whisper, _"I would die for you..."_

EVE hit her arm against the wall, "So that's why. You were willing to stumble towards me during all of that commotion to save my life. Even though I don't remember you?"

He hesitated, then he nodded.

EVE leaned into her arm, "Urgh..."

"Mom?"

EVE stayed there for one more moment, "Wall-E?"

He risked a glance upwards, "Yes?"

She got a glint in her eye, "Don't freak out." she turned around, grabbed his head, and-!

She kissed him.

Willow gasped.

It was over too fast. WALL-E looked up at her, hoping...

She kept staring into his eyes, really looking into them. They were so familiar, so beautiful. WALL-E may have been old on the outside, but she saw it; a glint of hope, curiosity, compassion, even love. She could have just been speculating, she reasoned, but why did all of this feel so right?

Like it was meant to be. Logically, that shouldn't make sense.

But it did.

She let go, resting her hands on his shoulders, "Wall-E?"

There it was again. His name felt perfect on her voice.

He blinked, "Yes?"

She smiled, a true genuine smile, "I want to remember."

"Oh..." WALL-E shook, "Eve..."

"Shush, it's okay." she kissed him again, long and slow.

"Mmm..." WALL-E mumbled against her visor.

"EEE! YES!" Willow jumped up and down, "My parents fell in love again!"

 _"I wouldn't say that, Miss Willow."_ Quinn interjected, _"I would say, they discovered each other again."_

"Whatever whatever technicalities!" Willow launched herself at them, "I'm so happy!"

"Ack! Wil!" WALL-E laughed.

"Is it true?" EVE pressed her hand to Willow's cheek, "Are you my daughter?"

"Yes! That's why I call you Mom!" Willow crushed her in a hug.

"Oh!" EVE giggled along with her, "How charming!" the blurred edges were back, but she ignored them.

 _"I don't mean to intrude, but we have company."_ Quinn said.

That quieted them.

Willow backed away from her parents to look out the window again, "Oh no..."

"What? Who's outside?" WALL-E instinctively grabbed EVE's hand. She squeezed it.

Willow ducked out of the intruder's view, "It's Alpha..."


	14. Chapter 14

M-O hid once again in the shadows, his coordination still sub-par after the foreign program invaded his circuit boards. Sheesh, he hated foreign contaminants, and he'd had one in his body! It made him feel nauseous, so he chose not to think about it.

Alpha had sent reinforcement to Quinn to take him down. He wasn't actually there, but his face was on every SECUR-T bot in the corridor. Alpha was still in the control room, where he had access to everything. It was scarier than being in his face, but at least that red eye wasn't so close.

M-O watched helplessly as Quinn was surrounded by weapons, from the ceilings and walls of the hallway, from the floor, the Atlanta was a supply ship, so it didn't have to worry about holding passengers.

Still, all the weapons seemed overkill to him. He would soon get lost in all the confusion and noise.

"What should we do?" Willow whispered helplessly.

 _"They have us surrounded."_ Quinn let the engines turn on, _"I'm going to floor it. Permission to proceed?"_

Willow strapped WALL-E and herself into the seats while EVE braced herself against the back wall.

Willow grabbed the rim of the control panel, "Permission granted!"

Just as the weapons fired, Quinn launched himself through one of the weaker barricades. EVE waited for the velocity to level out before getting back to the windows.

"What's he doing!?" EVE hissed.

 _"It appears that he is willing to try anything to keep his directive."_

"Just like Auto." WALL-E breathed.

"What's going on out there!?" Willow strained to see out the side windows.

 _"He is throwing everything at us."_ Quinn flew down a new corridor, _"No!"_

"What's wrong!?"

A loud _thump!_ was heard against the side of the shuttle, sending it into the wall.

"Thought you could get away, huh!?"

Quinn shrunk away, _"Master Fletcher..."_

"Fletcher!?" Willow tore her seatbelt off.

"Willow! Don't!" WALL-E tried to snag her, but she slipped by.

Willow stared at Fletcher's confident grin behind the safety of the glass, "Quinn! _Do something!"_

 _"I-I cannot."_ Quinn tried to escape but was promptly shoved down again, _"M-my directive."_

"What!?"

 _"I am to never harm Master Fletcher."_ Quinn's voice was filled with apology, but he made no move to push Fletcher off him.

Willow punched the wall, "Fine! I've got no directive, let me out!"

 _"No! Miss Willow!"_

Willow pried the door open, "Hey Fletcher!"

His teeth spun as his eyes locked onto her, "You look tasty! Hahaha!"

She stood no chance against him. He was a pure-blooded energy vampire, and half her code was from a model that was more than 700 years out of date. He was physically superior in every sense, but she had something that he didn't have; experience of the other.

She would have to count on that.

"I am!" she wiggled her fingers on either side of her face, "Come and catch me if you can!"

"Oh I _will!"_ he lunged for her.

She jumped out of the way, "Try and keep up!"

"Willow!" WALL-E got out of his seat, _"Stop!"_

She zig-zagged down the hallway, making sure she was moving unpredictably.

"Quinn! Stop her!" WALL-E shouted frantically.

 _"I will do my best."_ Quinn shut the door back up and headed after them.

"Gr! Hold still!"

Willow was too focused to talk back, she had to keep moving or she'd be skewered in a moment. She'd been in countless play-fights with her cousin, but he'd always gone easy on her, and even when he did pick up his game, he stopped immediately when he realized she was hurt or tired. Fletcher was ruthless and had a bad temper, but his kindness always made up for it (and his dry sense of humor).

She didn't often see him in a real fight, and that was throwing her off.

"Am I scaring you, little one?" Fletcher giggled, "You don't want to be destroyed!?"

She didn't hear him. Too focused.

 _"Miss Willow!"_

Quinn was coming.

"Just hold still for a minute!" Fletcher wined, "The robots in the west wing were dry!"

 _Don't listen. Don't stop._

Willow finally turned around and in one swift movement, kicked Fletcher under his jaw.

"AHHH!" Fletcher grabbed the spot, which was now bleeding servo fluid, "You horrible little brat!"

"And stay down!" Willow panted, huffs coming in and out through her voice. She reached out an arm and was swept away by Quinn. She collapsed upon falling inside.

"Willow!" WALL-E held her tightly, "If we survive this, you're grounded until the day you die!"

Willow smiled, "Ha. That's fair." she pushed him away, "I'm okay, though. I didn't use all of my power. Quinn, how's Fletcher?"

 _"Alive, lucky for you."_ Quinn let a little sass into his voice, _"It was hard enough watching you hurt him like that."_

"Yeah, sorry. It was all I could think of."

"How did you know that would work?" EVE peeked out one of the back windows.

"Me and Fletcher spar sometimes, and I know that Fletcher's neck is sensitive, so I hit it as hard as I could!"

 _"No need to elaborate, Miss Willow."_

"He's following us!" EVE gasped.

"Huh?" Willow gazed outside the shuttle. Fletcher's orange wings were glowing a heated red color, and his eyes burned with rage. His neck was still bleeding.

"Quinn! Faster!" Willow stuck herself in the front seat.

 _"Oh no..."_

"What? What's wrong!?"

 _"They're leading me to the Lido Deck."_ Quinn darted his cameras every which way, _"They want us to be near the humans!"_

"What!?" if they fought near the humans, innocent people would get hurt! "Keep going, but go faster!"

 _"Are you certain?"_

"Yes!" Willow gazed forward, "Shoot yourself right past the humans! All the way to the back of the room!"

Quinn was skeptical, but Willow sounded sure of herself, _"Very well."_ he picked up speed, _"I assume you have a plan?"_

"Er...not exactly a 'plan', but we have to do something! We can't let any humans become casualties!"

Quinn agreed wholeheartedly, _"Then let's go."_


	15. Chapter 15

Quinn emerged on the Lido Deck, where all the humans had been freed, but they were still trapped on the deck. He made note of each of them, not wanting them to get hurt.

Willow slid the door open in the air, "Hey! Alpha!"

"Willow!" WALL-E hissed.

"Stop being an asshole and let the humans go! They have no business here!"

She fully expected him to ignore her, but suddenly, the weapons cleared and all the humans flooded out.

"You are correct." Alpha's voice could be heard over the ceiling of the ship, which also showed his face, "We want to protect the humans, after all."

It took a second for Willow to place the saltiness, "We're going home."

"No, we stay here, where it is safe."

"Where it is boring!" Willow retorted, "Life is about challenges and new opportunities! Not sitting in a chair for seven hundred years being fat and lazy!"

"I don't believe I asked for any input on this manner."

 _"He has a point."_

"Shut up, Quinn!" Willow glared at Alpha's screen, "Whatever. We're going home."

"What makes you so sure?"

Willow grinned, "Because I have a plan."

 _"You do?_ Quinn asked.

"Don't act so surprised!" Willow retorted, "Go, Quinn! Let's take this Autopilot down once and for all!"

* * *

Jonathan lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling of his cage. It was a luxurious cage, but a cage nonetheless, because he was locked inside his suite with no way out.

Still, the gears were turning, and he had a feeling that help wasn't far away from WALL-E and Willow. He had to do something.

He was the captain, after all.

Captain Johnny Burnham.

He heard something hit his door, and it made him jump in surprise. There had been no activity for hours, what was going on? He hurried to look out the window in the door, and a huge influx of humans were sprinting across the hallway, even ones still plagued with obesity from generations of apathy.

He angrily hit the door, "Alpha!" he had to get out.

"Hey!" he banged on the door louder, "Is anyone out there!? Let me out!"

"Captain Burnham!?"

One of the humans had stopped, and Jonathan recognized him as the supervisor of the cargo on the ship. His eyes were wide.

"Yes! That's me!" Jonathan wrestled with the door handle, "Let me out!"

"Ack!" the human outside pushed through the other humans, twisting the lock until he got it open.

"Thank you." Jonathan ran past him, against the influx of humans.

"Wait! It's dangerous that way!"

He didn't listen, "This is my ship! I have to protect it!" and that was it, "Hey! Clear a path, please!"

Only a few people even had room to move out of the way, and it was a huge effort to push through everyone, but he didn't dare stop. He didn't stop until the humans thinned out and he had room to sprint to the Lido Deck.

Maybe he could stop this.

* * *

 _"What is your plan, Miss Willow?"_

Willow held tight while Quinn turned the ship around, facing inward, "You're going to help me overrun Alpha's control."

 _"Tell me what I should do."_

"Get up to the control panel, but not yet. We have to distract Alpha first." Willow turned back to the inside of the shuttle, "We need to get Alpha away from his power!"

"How do we do that!?" EVE shielded her face when Quinn hit the ceiling.

"I...um..." truth be told, that was still being thought out.

Quinn's voice came in soft, _"Wh-what...?"_

Willow stared at the screen on the dashboard. "INCOMING CALL", it said.

"Who is it?"

 _"I can't tell, but it's coming from someone on the Atlanta, close to the Lido Deck."_

Willow narrowed her eyes, "Answer it."

 _"Are you sure, Miss Willow?"_

"Yes." she said, hoping it was who she thought it was.

 _"Very well."_

Willow watched the "INCOMING CALL" turn into, "CALL ANSWERED".

 _"Hello? This is Captain Burnham, is anyone there?"_

Willow gasped in relief, "Jonathan!"

 _"Willow! Oh wow, it's good to hear from you again! How did you get here?"_

"I grabbed one of your emergency shuttles, and its being flown by a friend of mine who's an AI."

 _"I got that much. I mean how did you get past security?"_

"Quinn did it for us!" Willow yelped as Quinn dodged a rocket, and it exploded behind them, just missing the glass-screen ceiling, "Jon, I need your help!"

 _"I know! I know!"_ falling debris could be heard on his end, an indication that he was close, _"I'm at your service! Just say the word!"_

Willow gulped, "You have to get Alpha out of his control panel!"

 _"What?"_ footsteps coming to a halt came over the line, _"How do I do that?"_

She wasn't actually sure, "You have to do something that'll make it so he's _forced_ out of his little hidey-hole to fix the problem himself, and then I can get Quinn to steer the ship home."

 _"Okay, you're missing a few steps there, Wil."_ Jonathan huffed, resuming his running, _"How do I get him to_ stay _out?"_

"I don't know! What do you want me to do!?"

"Okay, calm down." WALL-E gently grabbed his daughter's shoulders, "There has to be a way."

EVE realized that the black borders around her field of view were going to put her through a force shut-down. She should have known better. Alpha owned her mind, if she betrayed him he would just make her forget again. She had to do something for them before she was taken back.

All she knew was Alpha. Maybe she could use that.

"I think I know."

"You do? Mom?"

EVE flew to the control panel, "I have an idea. Jonathan, get Alpha out of the control room. I'll do the rest."

 _"Eve, is that you!?"_

She ignored him, slipping out the door when Alpha wasn't watching them.

"We'll fill you in later, Jon." Willow replied, "Do what she says. You know how, right?"

 _"I'll do my best."_ he seemed uncertain, but confident, _"You'd better be ready!"_

Just as Jonathan hung up, there was a sickening _crash!_ on the side of the ship, slamming Quinn into the wall and pinning him there.

"You can't run away from me!" Fletcher pressed his hands into the ship hard enough to make indentations in the metal, "You'll pay for what you've done!"

"Uh oh..." Willow felt her stomach knot.

"Quinn! Can't you do anything!?" WALL-E panicked.

 _"I cannot. The only way out is to harm Fletcher."_

The door caved in against the wall, the only exit.

Willow didn't scare easily, but at this moment, she wished she could crawl under something sturdy and cover her eyes until the noises stopped. She could slow Fletcher down for a few seconds, but stopping him entirely was not possible. She simply wasn't strong enough.

Willow gripped the control panel tightly as Fletcher kept bending the metal like putty, "What about doing something that leads to him getting harmed? Like indirectly?"

 _"I've never thought about that before. In the right circumstances, I might be able to."_

"Great! Okay, when I say so, I want you to open the window closest to Fletcher, got it?"

Fletcher slammed his fist into one of the windows, and it cracked.

"Ah!" she stumbled backwards, "Stop him!"

Fletcher's eyes followed Willow like a cat on a laser. The next window over, Fletcher dug his knuckles into the bullet-proof glass, and a long crack broke the window in two. One more and it would shatter.

"Willow!" WALL-E pulled her aside.

"Ack! Ready, Quinn!?"

Quinn seemed to brace himself.

Fletcher cried out as he swung his fist.

"NOW!"

The window opened, and Fletcher flew into the room, "Whoa!"

Willow threw herself on his back, her arms a wrapped around his shoulders.

"Ow!" Fletcher threw his head at her, and Willow barely slid down his back in time. He just hit her head, and she grew dizzy for a second, "GET OFF!"

"No!"

Fletcher slammed back-first into the wall. Willow was winded, but she didn't let go. It was hard to hold onto him that way, because the only neck he had was a hole in the top of his body, but she was determined.

"Willow!" WALL-E was easily tossed aside by Fletcher.

"Dad!" Willow was slammed into the wall again.

"LET GO OF ME!" Fletcher flew out the window, and Willow hit her head on the rim. She blinked, and realized there was a crack across her left eye. It was odd seeing her vision broken like that, but she refused to let go as static crossed her view.

Fletcher growled, a primal sound from deep in his throat, and Willow realized that she should be afraid, but still, she held on.

"Quinn!" WALL-E jumped out of the ruined shuttle, "Can't you do something!? That's my daughter!"

 _"I am sorry, I truly am..."_ Quinn shuttered, _"But even if I wanted to hurt Fletcher, he threw off my balance. I cannot fly."_

"Ah!" Willow held on tighter, trying not to fly off as Fletcher headed for the ceiling.

"I'll _force_ you to let go!" Fletcher reached his arms back and clawed at her, but he could barely reach.

"Then stay off of Quinn!" Willow screamed as Fletcher ran her into the screen across the ceiling. She tried to cover her face.

"Willow!"

Quinn revved his back-up engine.

Meanwhile, EVE rode up the elevator while Jonathan snuck through the back and disabled security measures. If their plan didn't work, then nothing would. The stakes were high.

"Alpha." EVE jumped off the elevator to face him, "We've got a problem."

"What?" he pressed a button.

 _"Hey, steering wheel!"_

Jonathan smiled into the camera, his hand hovering over the "EMERGENCY SHUT-DOWN" switch. He was surrounded by broken robots.

Alpha's eye glowed, "Not...possible..."

 _"That's right! I took my own ship back!"_ Jonathan laughed, _"And I took down your backup!"_

EVE thought AUTO would burst a servo-vessel.

 _"You wanna stop me, huh?"_ Jonathan grabbed the switch, but didn't pull it yet, _"Then come and get me, buddy."_

The feed cut out.

Alpha was still, thinking. Did he want to cut power to the entire ship!? What was he trying to accomplish!?

"Probe One. Stay here." Alpha boarded the elevator and went down.

EVE let a breath out through her speaker, heading to the control panel and pressing a button, "He's on the elevator."

"Awesome." Jonathan hid the switch away, "I'll be waiting for him."

"Ow!" Willow's arms felt as weak as jello.

"I'll say it one more time." Fletcher slammed his own shoulder into the glass wall of the Lido Deck, "LET! ME! GOOO!"

Willow's arms slipped and she was sent sprawling across the floor.

"WILLOW!" WALL-E hurried to her, only to be cast aside by Fletcher.

"Finally!" Fletcher grabbed her, but she continued to try and fight.

"Let me go!" Willow shoved her tread in his face.

"Stop it!" he threw her across the room as Alpha passed by to chase after Jonathan.

Willow cried out in pain every time she hit the ground until she skidded to a halt at the far wall.

Quinn had to do something. This was Willow's only life.

"NOW STAY DOWN!"

Willow braced herself, too worn and hurt to move out of the way.

She heard an explosion.

"Huh?" Willow looked up. Quinn had thrown the shuttle in the way to stop Fletcher. He'd mowed right through it...and was promptly thrown back by the explosion. Fletcher flew into the wall head-first, and then he stopped moving.

A monitor fell on the ground next to Willow, the same that had information on the shuttle. It flickered for a moment.

What came into focus in the pixels of the screen made Willow rear back in amazement.

 _"Tell me he's alive..."_

It was Quinn. Quinn had a face. The screen around him was a duller blue color, and he had rectangular eyes and a wide mouth in brilliant sky blue. He was sad.

 _"Miss Willow..."_

She gasped, "Wh-what?"

 _"Master Fletcher. Is he alive?"_

WALL-E got up to check on him.

...

"...he's breathing."

Quinn's features softened as he sighed, _"Good..."_

"He'll be out of it for awhile, though." WALL-E crossed the Lido Deck to his daughter, "That was real brave of you, Quinn."

 _"Th-thank you, WALL-E..."_ Quinn's face flickered, _"Aug!"_

"Quinn!" Willow grabbed the screen, "You saved my life..."

 _"Of course."_ a static cough permeated the room, _"Oh..."_

Willow began to shake, "Are you going to die?"

 _"P-please, d-do not cry, Miss Willow..."_ Quinn offered a small smile, _"I will wait for you all back home..."_

"B-but-!"

 _"I am aware of the situation..."_ Quinn's eyes fell to the ground as his image began to shake, _"If you fail, I will be all alone, waiting for my masters who will never come home..."_

Willow didn't want to see Quinn cry, "We won't fail. I promise." she sniffed, "We'll come home. You won't be alone. I won't allow it!"

Quinn's new smile was sad, _"Thank you, M-Miss Willow..."_

Willow wrapped her arms around the screen.

 _"I will be waiting for you."_ and then Quinn's face disappeared and all was quiet.

WALL-E let her cry for a minute before resting an arm on her shoulder, "Come on. Let's make sure his sacrifice isn't wasted."

Willow nodded, "Two more minutes..."

He sighed, wrapping her and the blank screen in a hug. He would wait for her, until she was ready.


	16. Chapter 16

Alpha entered the room he knew Jonathan was hiding, "Captain?"

EVE watched the exchange intently through the control panel.

"Captain?" he jumped when the door closed and locked behind him.

EVE typed away, "That should hold him."

"What!?" Alpha realized the captain wasn't even in the room, "No!"

"That was good! Thanks, Eve!" Jonathan came off the elevator.

"What do we do now!?" EVE exclaimed.

"We need to buy some time until we can deactivate him." he began to type furiously, "Go get a red deactivation cord from the repair ward, it'll make it easier to pin him down. Hurry!"

"Got it!" EVE was quick to jump down the elevator. It felt like it was moving too slow. When she got off, she froze for a moment, seeing Quinn's dismembered pieces strewn about everywhere, Willow and WALL-E draped over the main monitor. She shook her head and moved on.

"Okay." WALL-E gently shook Willow, "It's been five minutes."

She rubbed her eyes, despite not having the ability to shed physical tears, "Okay, yeah. Let's go."

EVE had the red cord, the giant button on it triggering that odd familiarity again. It must be in her memory somewhere. She was eager to get that back. That was her thought as she entered the Lido Deck.

She froze in place.

"You did this."

It was Alpha.

EVE began to shake, but not out of fear.

"You betrayed me."

"Eve!" WALL-E tried to run to her.

"Dad! Wait!"

He was knocked aside by a SECUR-T as they filled the room, all of them jumping to restrain EVE.

"Ah!" EVE tried to fly away, but she was stuck in the SECUR-T's lasers.

"Eve!" Jonathan wanted to help, but nothing in the ship could go against the Autopilot, and he couldn't leave the room.

"Let her go!" WALL-E was picked up by one of the robots and thrown across the room, kicking and screaming.

"Dad!"

"Stop!" EVE couldn't even move her head or arms, "Wall-E!"

Alpha took the red cord from her hands, "You wanted to deactivate me."

"Don't hurt him!" EVE begged.

"Why?"

She tried to scramble for an answer while Willow helped WALL-E stand.

"No. Eve. Not this again." WALL-E watched helplessly.

"You don't even know him."

 _You don't even know him._

As much as she hated it, he was right. EVE didn't remember who he was, for all she knew he didn't know her either and was just pretending, but if that was the case, then nothing he did made any sense, nothing she felt made any sense.

Alpha clicked one of his spokes and EVE lurched, "Hurk!"

The black borders covered her field of view until all she saw was black veiny lightning shapes, like ink fractals in the snow. Everything blurred back and forth as her cameras tried to focus but failed to find anything, and she was sure that if she wasn't restrained, she would have definitely fallen over.

"Stop. Stop! _Please!"_ WALL-E cried.

EVE's hearing was fuzzy too. She just caught that desperate cry, and it made her heart ache.

Whispers filled out through EVE's head, and one stood out among the rest. She thought the silent screams would drive her insane.

 _You shouldn't have done that._

White-hot stimulation of every one of her pain receptors is what followed. It felt like she had been struck by lightning five times in a row in the middle of a forest fire.

 **"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"** EVE's body contorted and twisted even under the stress of the stasis beam. All of her internal diagnostics flashed red at her, filling her head with a blaring siren that made her head feel like it was splitting open. She didn't even register that she was screaming.

 _"EEEEEEEEEVE!"_ WALL-E tried to push through the sentry-bots, again getting thrown across the room.

The SECUR-Ts let go of EVE and she fell on the ground. The assault was over, and EVE was numb. She was vaguely aware of her arm on the ground in front of her face, a gray-ish blur on the white of the ground. Nothing felt right anymore, she wanted it to stop.

 _I can make it stop._

 _How?_

 _Just give me everything. Like before._

 _But..._

 _You don't have a choice._

The SECUR-Ts finally backed off and WALL-E bolted to her, "Eve!" he lifted her head, "Are you okay!?"

There had been a bright flash of light, and he definitely heard her scream, but her body showed no outward signs of damage (though she still had the damage to her side and screen from the previous attack). All he noticed was that her eyes weren't looking at anything in particular as they struggled to stay on her visor. Then, her eyes went away all together.

"Eve. Please." WALL-E shook her gently, "Please be okay. You have to be okay."

Her eyes came back and she pushed herself off the ground.

"Eve?" he was hopeful, "Are you okay?"

She glared at him.

And then she exploded.

"Get away from me, you creep!" she scowled, "Stop following me!"

He jumped back, realizing what happened, "You forgot again."

"No, you know what!?" she towered over him, "I'm sick of you! And I'm sick of how you make me feel! I never want to see you again in my entire life! So get out of here before I throw you out myself!" on that last sentence, she pointed her weapon at him, the soft lights running up and down her arm as WALL-E stared into the barrel of the gun.

He backed away from her.

"Oh no..." Willow forced the tears down.

They were back at square one.

"Probe One." Alpha clicked one of his spokes, "Bring these outsiders to the brig. Your sisters will meet you there."

She huffed, "Fine. Follow me."

WALL-E stared at the ground, "Come on, Willow. Let's not cause any more trouble."

"But-!"

The weapon EVE pointed at her made the words die in her throat.

"Willow, it's pointless." WALL-E pulled on her arm, "Let's go."

It killed her, but she let her head drop, "Okay..."

So that was it. Their quest to bring everyone home had failed.

Jonathan felt the voice before he heard it, "And _you_ are to return to your room. Refusal is not advised.

Jonathan threw his hat on the ground, "Whatever, I'm going. No need to strap me to a chair."

Alpha opened the elevator for him.

"Oh, and by the way." Jonathan turned around once he was inside, "I hope you rot in hell."

And the doors closed on him.

He raked a hand through his hair. He wasn't even allowed in the Captain's Cabin, where he used to sleep every day before the message arrived from the Axiom telling them to go back. He remembered that day vividly. He'd only been Captain for a few years before the message came, and Alpha had gone without complaint. He had assumed it was because he wanted to go home, but now he realized it was because the Atlanta was full of hard-working people. They were fit, and they could easily put up a fight against one steering wheel and the few security robots at the time. He must have been so frightened, so why didn't he say anything?

It must have been part of the override-directive; Confidentiality.

He was brimming with rage, which is why he said that to Alpha, but it wasn't really his fault. He was a robot with a hard-wired directive. It wasn't his choice.

But still, he hurt someone. He hurt someone _knowing_ that he had done something wrong. He did it knowing it would hurt others. He did it knowing he would do it again.

And EVE...

"Eve...I'm so sorry..." Jonathan leaned back into the wall, covering his face with his hand. Too many people had gotten hurt from this, he had to make it stop.

Somehow.


	17. Chapter 17

Willow lay on her back, counting the bars of her cage. She thought it was a little counter-intuitive to make metal bars in a facility full of robots, but then again, this cage was meant for humans, and the Atlanta didn't used to be full of robots. Still, she was glad to not see anyone shocked by those bars, they didn't even have any scorch marks on them.

"So that's it, huh?"

Willow's mom and all her aunts turned to her like hawks. Yes, all of them, including Leah, who was known for her kindness and sensitivity. Even Rose, who was made of sweetness and shyness enough to rot any humans' teeth.

It was so jarring.

"That's it." WALL-E sighed, sitting propped up against the wall, "What else can we do? Alpha is clearly taking us seriously now, he's never going to lighten his tactics."

Willow shook her head, "Quinn..."

"Willow..." WALL-E held her as she cried again, "It's okay..."

"He's going to be all alone til the end of time..." Willow hugged him tightly, "We failed. I'm so sorry, Quinn...I'm so sorry, Dad..."

"Hush, it's okay..."

She let herself sob. She'd lost her mother, her cousin, her aunts and uncle, she'd even lost Quinn.

EVE looked away for a second. She seemed to be thinking about something.

Willow looked up when EVE put her hand on one of the bars.

"Eve? What are you doing?" Aya asked.

EVE didn't speak at first, but it was clear that she was searching for the right words to use. She inhaled through her speaker;

"He hurt me."

Everyone stared at her.

"He hurt me, and I don't remember anything before it happened." she looked up, "Doesn't that seem kind of suspicious?"

"Of course not." Aya retorted, "He did what he had to."

"But why?"

"Huh?"

"Why did he have to hurt me? He was clearly in power, I wasn't hurting him. That robot, too..." she looked right at WALL-E, "He was the one who asked if I was okay, not Alpha."

"Are you seriously questioning him?" Aya poked her in the chest, "Maybe _that's_ why he hurt you in the first place!"

EVE was about to say something else, but she stopped. Arguing wouldn't help, she'd have to try something else.

"Why did you ask if I was okay?" she asked.

"What?" WALL-E perked up a little, "Me?"

"Yes. You." she watched him stand up, "You care about me somehow, why?"

"Ah..." WALL-E looked sad, "I've already told you, but you've forgotten again..."

"I have?"

"Look at your left hand."

She did, and she noticed the discoloration on her finger, "What am I looking for?"

"Where your wedding band used to be."

Those words nagged at her.

She kept staring, looking up at WALL-E and back down again, but she didn't say anything.

When she did, her voice was soft, "If this is the enemy, and Alpha is our friend, then why did he hurt me? And why did ihe/i ask if I was okay?"

"Because you're married and you just forgot!" Willow burst.

"Willow!" WALL-E exclaimed.

EVE had so many questions, but she knew they couldn't be answered yet. She was already scheming a way to free them when she heard a clatter down the hall. All the EVE's (except One) pointed their weapons at the door.

Jonathan turned the doorway, "Alpha needs help."

"What? With what?" Aya sassed, "What could Alpha _possibly_ need help with?"

"A new band of rebels." he smiled, "Perhaps, in a bigger ship? With more explosives?"

They all looked at each other.

"I'll stay here." EVE offered, "Wouldn't want them escaping, after all."

So four of the EVEs rushed down the hall. When Jonathan was sure they were gone, he entered the room cautiously.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." EVE told him, "Do you know how to get this lock open?"

Jonathan couldn't help but smile, "Hahaha! You have no idea how happy I am to hear that from you!"

"Explain that to me later." EVE watched him fiddle with the mechanism, "For now, we have to stop Alpha."

"Jon!" Willow hugged him, "How did you escape!?"

"I was about to call security, since they always leave the door open, but..." he replied.

"Wall-E!"

"M-O!" WALL-E swept him up, "It's so good to see you!"

"Haha!" M-O let himself be set down, _It's good to see you too!_

WALL-E's laughter died down, "Eve." he looked at her longingly, "Eve..."

"It's okay." EVE held his hand, "Even if you're lying to me, you cared and he didn't. Let's take him down together, okay?"

He grinned wide enough to split his face in two, "Okay."

They sat there for a second, motionless, looking at each other.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Willow pushed WALL-E's head forward, and he accidentally kissed her.

"Ah!" WALL-E's face burned, _"Willow!"_

"Oh." EVE touched the singed spot on her screen. It tickled.

"Whoa!" M-O started.

"You just had to, huh?" Jonathan tried not to laugh.

"Did you tell her to do that!?" WALL-E demanded.

"No, but I wish I had! That was brilliant!" he gave Willow a high-five.

"Come on, Dad." she reasoned, "You'd be totally dazed if that were your first time, you and Mom have told me that story since I was a day old."

"Of course I would be, because I would've never been kissed before! It surprised me that first time!" he lunged for her.

"AH! DON'T TICKLE MEEE!" Willow bawled with laughter, "M-O! STOP!"

"Huhuhu!" M-O giggled.

"Hey, hold on guys." Jonathan broke them apart, "Eve? What's wrong?"

She still hadn't moved. Her mind was begging her to remember something, but what was it? It felt important. She was tempted to kiss him again, but would it just make her more confused?

"I..." EVE let her hand fall, "I want to remember..."

WALL-E gasped softly, "You do...?"

She gave a nod, a small smile on her eyes.

Jonathan stood up, "Then let's take down Alpha!"


	18. Chapter 18

EVE's right arm twitched, but she couldn't use it yet. She had to wait. She'd just had the run down of the plan, and was waiting for Jonathan to get up to the top of the elevator.

"Hey Mom, because I'm curious, how much to you remember?"

EVE was ready to move on a moment's notice, "Nothing, really. I just remember feeling all that pain and then yelling at Wall-E. Sorry about that, by the way. It was uncalled for."

"I know, it's fine." it _wasn't_ fine, but it also wasn't her fault, "What should we do?"

"Wait here." EVE replied, "I'll be back in a second if something goes wrong."

Willow drooped, "Kay..."

"There." EVE flew upwards.

Jonathan exited the elevator, "Alpha."

"What?" he turned around "How did you get out?"

"I have my ways." Jonathan narrowed his eyes, "This is your last warning, Alpha. Bring us home or else."

"'Or else' what? You'll scold me from your room?" Jonathan imagined that if Alpha had eyebrows, one would be raised, "How do you expect to punish me for upholding my directive?"

"Again, Alpha, I have my ways." Jonathan saw EVE from his periphery. She ducked below the window, "Are you going to send me back to my room now, or do you have time for civil discussion?"

"There is no room for discussion." Alpha retorted, not hearing the rumble coming from the garbage disposal, "You seem to forget who is in charge. It's not you, it's me. You were never the one in control."

"Maybe not, but what you're doing is wrong." he knew Alpha wouldn't listen, but he had to stall for time, "You've stripped people of their happiness just to withhold an order from _eight hundred years ago._ You aren't doing this for us, you're doing it for yourself."

"Does it matter?" Alpha got closer to him, "You have nothing. Even if what you say is true, it doesn't matter. I'm in control, get this through your thick meaty skull."

Jonathan smiled, "Actually, I hope you're ready to eat your words."

 _Click!_

Alpha froze. He couldn't move.

 _"Now!"_

EVE rushed to Alpha, prying open his front panel and slamming on the manual button.

"No! Waaaaaaaiiit..." his red eye dimmed, and then he was still.

"Woo!" Jonathan punched the air, "That was awesome, Eve! Great job, M-O!"

"Woohoo!" M-O jumped down from the button he'd used to freeze Alpha.

"Thank you." EVE shook herself off, pushing the wheel out of the way. His hover was still working, but the Autopilot was deactivated, "Nice distraction."

"Thank you, Ma'am!" he jumped to the control panel, "So with that out of the way, let's get home!"

Blaster sounds were heard down below.

"Wall-E!" EVE didn't even bother going down the garbage chute or the elevator, she just jumped out the window, using her left arm to shield her face from the broken glass.

"DAD!"

EVE put herself between her sisters and the two other robots, brandishing her weapon and pointing it at the other EVEs, "STOP!"

They did.

She risked a glance at WALL-E. He'd been blasted through the middle, and was currently sparking dangerously, thick yellow liquid leaking from his battery. His eyes were open, glassy, lifeless, if they did nothing, he would certainly die.

"DAD! NO!" Willow looked into his eyes, "WAKE UP! YOU'RE SCARING ME!"

It was an effort for EVE to hold still. She didn't know him! So why did this feel so...

Nostalgic.

 _"Hyperdrive activated."_ the ship said, _"Ten seconds to hyperjump. Nine, eight, seven..."_

The ticker counted down, and suddenly, it was like this had already happened. Like a memory;

 _"No...Wall-E!" she shouted into his eyes, hoping for any kind of movement, hoping upon endless hope that he was still alive somewhere in there._

"Ugh!" she shook her head, listening to Willow scream, keeping her sisters away. Her cannon in front of her was shaking violently, and she couldn't get it to still.

 _"...four, three, two..."_

EVE yelled, "STAY!" at the four EVEs in front of her before sheathing her weapon and holding WALL-E along with Willow.

"Mom..." she leaned into her, and EVE let her.

The hyperjump happened, and the resulting noise was deafening. She held her ground, hating the sensation of sticky battery acid on her hands but being unable to let go. Willow kept screaming the whole time, and there was a sensation of the world closing in around them.

"We have to get him home."

EVE blinked. Over already? She looked up at Jonathan, "Where?"

"I'll show you, but we need to hurry!" he lifted WALL-E into his arms, not caring about the dangerous fluid staining his shirt and pants, "Eve! Get your sisters! Make them follow me!"

 _Oh no..._ M-O followed close behind Jonathan.

All four of the sisters seemed confused, but the one who had fired the shot that knocked WALL-E down - Rio - already looked regretful, so maybe they knew that Alpha was deactivated.

Of course they did. Their brains had been connected to him, and now all the whispers had faded.

"Follow me!" she demanded. None of them protested.

Jonathan sprinted as fast as he could past the other humans to get out, "Out of my way! Go! _move!"_ they all did, and before he had a chance to think too hard about WALL-E's dying body, he'd made it to his lab.

He set him down on the workbench, "Computer! Parts! Now!"

The computer's laser swept over him and the machine got to work, ordering the parts.

"Eve! Over there!"

She looked, and from the other room she could hear gears whirring, so she followed the sound and found the parts needed were being spat out of the machine, one at a time, coming from the other side of the building where they had been built days earlier. She gathered them up and brought them to Jonathan.

"Awesome. I need to replace them all." Jonathan pried him open and took out the faulty battery, "Eve, you can do it faster than me. Can you try?"

She was hit with a sudden wave of anxiousness, but she nodded, "I'll do my best."

She couldn't let him die. Not like this.

She scanned him with her own internal scanner. She could do this.

She grabbed each part and took them out, replacing them with ease, though she only just learned how he worked on the inside. Boards, cables, circuits, the only ones she didn't replace were ones she knew usually had personal information on them. She couldn't lose him. Not yet.

"You can do it, Mom!" Willow cried. This seemed to give EVE motivation.

Finally, EVE stopped. She'd done all she could. Hopefully it would be enough.

"Did you get it?" Jonathan asked, "Computer, scan again."

It did.

 _"All systems repaired."_

EVE knew this situation. Like time itself had come to a gradual yet deafening halt. Something inside her begged, pleaded with time itself, that it would be merciful on him, that it would bend the folds of the fabric of time just to let him live.

It was very illogical, and yet she couldn't stop praying for him.

...

He didn't move.

"N-no..." EVE remembered something, long ago, when he took care of her, when he sacrificed himself for humanity and to fulfill her directive. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to crawl into a hole and activate her emergency self-destruct function. These were her memories, she knew. She _knew_ they belonged to her, as sure as she was of every star in the observable universe.

She was finally remembering, under all the stress of losing him.

It was the worst possible time to remember. She almost preferred to have not remembered at all.

"Wh-what's going on?" Jonathan thumped WALL-E's side, "He should be awake by now..."

EVE leaned against the table, her eyes staring right through his. Why wasn't he waking up!?

"No...no... _no..."_ EVE held still as each piece of her memory put itself back together.

The plant. The exploding ship. The dance. The shock. The WALL-As. The tilt.

The holo-detector.

"No! No! _No! NO!"_ EVE kept feeling a blocked floodgate come to the forefront. She didn't remember everything, but what she did remember shocked her.

 _WALL-E..._

 _God, I love you so much, WALL-E..._

"M-Mom...?" Willow asked, "Is...is he...?"

"Don't say it!" EVE collapsed against the desk, suddenly having trouble functioning, "He's not! He can't be! It's impossible!"

"You remember?" Willow moved to her side, feeling a flutter of hope.

"N-not much, just bits and pieces..." EVE shakily looked back up at him, "I'm only sure about one thing...that this robot needs to live, by whatever means possible!" she stared into his eyes, the ones she knew from that day she went to Earth, "He can't die..."

She kept nagging his lifeless body on the table, "Y-you're fixed! I replaced all your parts, I fixed you!" she recalled his full name, "W-Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class...I-I swear, if you die I'll h-hate you until the heat death of the universe!" she began to shake him violently, "Wake up! It's not funny! I remembered you, so the least you could do is say something! Anything! Anything at all! _Anything!"_ she wailed, "I SAID STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!"

"EVE!" Jonathan yanked her away and she began to sob into his shirt, nauseated at the sight of so much yellow battery acid. She held onto the human for dear life, wishing she could disappear to wherever WALL-E had gone so she could be with him forever.

Jonathan sighed, "He's gone..." he sniffed, "It's okay, Eve...we're all still here, we'll help you remember..."

It wasn't okay. It would never be okay. Not without him.

Not without Wall-E.


	19. Chapter 19

EVE couldn't sleep. This truck was familiar, but she only remembered it from the time she scoured it for parts the first time WALL-E fell. Nothing about it felt like a home, in fact it felt different than she knew it probably should, so she just had to leave.

She needed some time to think.

All she remembered was WALL-E abandoning his directive out of loneliness to pursue her. She remembered when she first said his name, and he sighed, loving the sound of her voice. She remembered how it felt to hold his hand, to hear him say her name wrong, to dance with him and a fire extinguisher...to look into his vacant eyes and find _nothing._

At least then he had been alive.

She found herself drifting to Jonathan's lab, long after he'd left, long after WALL-E's body had been set aside for burial. He hadn't moved from that spot.

She didn't know what drew her to him so much, even after death. She supposed that was just love.

She remembered something else, more recent. After the humans returned to Earth, but before Willow was born. She saw a wide room full of white and gold. Each piece was oddly elegant, in particular, there was a mirror that was surrounded by a decorative gold border. She saw her reflection, and she saw that she was draped in a translucent veil that trailed past the floor. She was beaming, so excited yet so nervous. She also carried a bundle of brightly-colored flowers. They didn't evade her curiosity.

She remembered this as she stared at WALL-E, and imagined him in a black bow tie, cleaned up from head to toe, extending a hand towards her with a huge proud smile all over his face. He had tiny folds of fabric on his wrists, with fancy gold cuff links accenting them. He looked so dapper.

She realized what she was remembering;

 _"I hereby promise to love you as much as my processor will allow,_  
 _to uphold a sacred bond of understanding and communication._  
 _You will be my sun and moon, my stars and clouds,_  
 _you will be the electricity that runs through my veins."_

 _"You will be my parachute, and my safeguard, and my very best friend._  
 _From this moment on, til death do us part..._

 _You will always and forever be my..."_

"Directive."

She spoke the last word aloud. That's right, WALL-E couldn't talk properly back then, so she said them to him, and he'd agreed, and that's when they'd kissed.

She had an idea.

Being gentle, in case her hypothesis was right, she pried open his inner cavity again, searching more thoroughly, making sure she got every last detail. She found what she was looking for, reaching in and pulling it free. She did this quickly, but with great care, and she made sure to grab anything else that could correlate.

She scanned them, hoping so hard it hurt. It had to be...!

She burst into relieved tears of joy.

All of his memory boards were perfectly intact.

* * *

EVE was literally shaking from the anticipation. After informing Jonathan of her discovery, he'd realized that he wasn't beyond saving, and went on fixing his body. It took a long time, but without the boards to worry about, it was mostly smooth-sailing. It took about a week, considering Jonathan also had to worry about helping Alpha recover from his override-directive. It wasn't as all-encompassing - or as powerful - as a core directive, but it still needed special attention and care. He was recovering well, though, and maybe someday they would meet him again.

They could even become friends.

EVE followed Willow to the database Quinn was still sleeping in and watched her turn it on, "Quinn?"

Aya, Nos, and Fletcher all had to recover from the memory-virus as well, so Quinn had been out of commission too. Willow thought it was only fair to revive him now.

 _"Miss Willow!"_ Quinn sighed, _"How did the mission go?"_

That seemed to break something, "Quinn, I'm so sorry I let you die! You saved me and I almost failed and-!"

 _"Miss Willow, please..."_

EVE came to stand with her daughter. She'd had the memory-virus wiped clean, but she still didn't remember everything yet. She would have to be patient as centuries-worth of information came back bit by bit, but she remembered Willow and Eric and M-O and pretty much everyone else, so it was fine. She could live until she remembered what kind of flowers she liked best.

 _"Listen..."_ Quinn huffed through the vents, _"You succeeded. That's what matters. I had a second chance, remember? I am just fine."_

"I know, I know...but I should've...I didn't...

"Willow." EVE hugged her tightly, "Nothing good comes from studying hypotheticals like that. We made it back, that's all that matters, and if there was something you could've done to make it better, then you would have. Okay?"

Willow was quiet, then she nodded, "Okay..."

"Come on, Wil." she took her daughter's head in both hands, "Where's your smile? I haven't seen it in weeks!"

Willow's eyes flickered again, then she let her eyelids curve upwards a bit.

"There you go." EVE pressed her forehead into Willow's, "Thank you for saving my daughter, Quinn."

 _"Of course. You must tell me all about it! I don't mean to pry, but I am quite curious!"_

"Of course I'll tell you how you saved my life, Silly!" Willow jumped to the door, "Now let's go revive Dad!"

Back in the living room of the house, all of EVE's sisters, Nos, Fletcher, Jonathan, M-O, and a few others were there. Each of the ones who'd been brainwashed had already apologized like 500 times, so it was nice to see them relaxed again.

"You took your sweet time waking our house up for us!" Fletcher teased.

"Eh. Whatever. I kinda got him killed for that, you know."

Fletcher bit back another apology, "So is Uncle Wall-E comin' back or what?"

"Soon." EVE crossed her fingers, "Hopefully, this will be the last time we'll have to revive him, too."

"I'm sure he'll be just fine." Leah pressed her palm against EVE's cheek, "He's a tough cookie."

"Heh...I know." EVE let herself smile, "You gonna do it, Jonathan?"

"Yep, just gimme one second..." the couches and coffee table had been pushed aside, and so WALL-E's newly-repaired boxed-up body was in the middle of the room for all to see, "We're so lucky that only replaceable boards had actually been broken. We can't have any close-calls like that again!"

"Not planning on it." EVE promised, "Though, I never wanted this to happen anyway, so...?"

"I already got the other Autopilots on board too." Jonathan stepped back, "Okay...Quinn? Open the window."

The curtains were drawn back, and since it was early morning, the sun came in right through one of the slit windows onto WALL-E's outstretched solar panels.

They waited.

And waited.

 _Come on..._ M-O muttered, _Please..._

And...

 _Beep._

A few gasps rang out.

 _Beep. Beep. Beepbeepbeepbeep._

The full-charge chime echoed in the silent room. The moment of truth. WALL-E's head came out of his body, moving around to capture the sights of everything around him.

EVE fiddled with the ring on her finger, an old habit she'd gotten back with her memories. It would never come off again.

After putting his solar panels away, WALL-E stayed still, not sure what he should do.

"Wall-E...?"

He turned in the direction of EVE's voice.

She hovered over to him, directly in his line of sight. She kissed him softly, remembering that it might be required to bring him back.

It had to be.

Please let it be enough.

He blinked, looking up into her eyes, but he didn't speak.

He just stared.

"W-Wall-E?" EVE pressed her hand into his, spreading out her fingers. Her eyes went from the clasped-hands to WALL-E's face, but he still didn't respond, "D-do you r-remember me?"

He looked her up and down. She held her breath. Everyone waited, anticipating, hoping that he would say something or do something instead of just blankly stare.

Finally, after several minutes, he smiled warmly, "How could I forget my own wife?"

"Oh!" EVE exhaled dramatically, "Wall-E."

"Eve."

"Wall-E!"

"Eve!"

 _"Wall-E!"_ she grabbed him and spun him around joyously, screaming, kissing him over and over again, "Wall-E Wall-E _Wall-E!"_

"Hahaha! Okay! Put me down!" he laughed, "I'm happy to see you too, Sweetie."

"DAD!" Willow threw herself at him.

"Oof!" he fell backwards, "Willow!"

"Oh my God, you're alive! _You're alive!"_

"Okay! I get it!" he shook his head, "Jeez, you'd think I just died or something!"

No one replied.

"Wait..." he stood back up, pushing Willow back on her feet, "I did die again, didn't I? I never seem to remember these things..."

"Stop saying it like that! You act like it was no big deal!" EVE pretended to be mad at him.

He scoffed, "Please. I have trouble _staying_ alive, honestly."

"Shut up!" EVE kissed him, forcefully and sloppily, for a long time.

"Whoa! WHOA!" WALL-E fell onto his back.

"That's what you get!" EVE practically shouted, "That's what you _get!"_

"Ahhhh..." WALL-E's solar charge fluctuated as he lay motionless.

Willow giggled, "Called it."

"Okay, well, if you're done horsing around." Jonathan _loudly_ cleared his throat, "I didn't tell you about this before, Eve, but you're actually no longer married to Wall-E."

This was baffling news to her, "What?"

"Yeah, I uh...kind of already entered Wall-E as dead in the registry, so if you want to stay married, you have to renew your vows."

"Okay, if that's all." EVE helped WALL-E stand when he was sure he wouldn't fall over again, "When?"

"We could do it right now." Jonathan pulled out a tablet and scribbled on it with his finger, "There's no reason not to, unless you no longer want to be married to-!"

"Jon, the next time you say something that stupid, I'll have you thrown in a mental asylum."

Jonathan snorted, "That's what I thought. Very passionate answer though, A plus!"

EVE nodded, taking both of WALL-E's hands in her own.

"Eve, you know what to say."

She took a deep breath, "I here-!"

"I hereby promise to love you as much as my processor will allow," WALL-E interrupted, "to uphold a sacred bond of understanding and communication."

EVE's eyes widened, but she didn't interrupt him.

"You will be my sun and moon, my stars and clouds, you will be the electricity that runs through my veins."

Everyone watched in wonder as WALL-E repeated the exact words EVE had used the first time they married. It made sense for EVE to remember things well, but WALL-E's memory wasn't as sharp.

And yet, he didn't make one mistake.

"You will be my parachute, and my safeguard, and my very best friend." he sucked in a breath as he began to cry, "From this moment on, til-!" he looked up at EVE, who was also crying, "til death do us part...you will always-!"

She joined in, "and forever be my directive!" she squealed, "You got it word for word!"

"Heheh, really? Cuz I wasn't sure."

"Whatever! Just kiss me already!" and so EVE grabbed him and kissed him right there, ending whatever he was going to say in response.

Just some soft mumbling was all he could manage.

And right then, in the depths of people cheering and clapping and hugging them tight, they knew that they'd never rather be anywhere but here.

Together.

Where they were miles away from any kind of dysphoria.

THE END


End file.
